Pokémon: Josh's Journey
by Darkblade701
Summary: The world of Pokémon as seen through the eyes of Josh, an eager young trainer on the journey of a lifetime. Quirky and amusing. Rated for mild, infrequent swearing.
1. Chapter 1: The Bitter Cold

As anyone who's read this story will notice, what used to be Chapter 16 is now Chapter 1. This is due to a few issues I had, brought up by a review I had that was a real wake-up call, by MidnightSaboteur. One was that it was kind of clichéd, not that well written and the characters- which are the main point of interest in an OT fic- or at least this one- were all interchangeable and none of them displayed any of their truly defining characteristics. So other than rewrite the entire story, I decided to simply start again at a more interesting point that better displays the strengths of this fic. And thus did I choose the chapter previously known as Chapter 16, now mildly rewritten to welcome new readers. Enjoy.

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**Pokémon: Josh's Journey**

Chapter 1 The Bitter Cold

"Well?" I declared "are you ready for a battle yet?" I was aware I was probably bugging him, but I didn't really care. Zack pondered the thought.

"Better yet," he said "why don't you battle Lindsay?" _Because I want to battle you, idiot. And I will until I manage to beat you at least once._

"That'd be good," I replied. It was late when I had battled Sabrina yesterday, so we had stayed in a motel for the night. As we had packed up to leave the next day- today- I spotted Zack and well, challenged him to a battle.

"So- er… how many Pokémon?" asked Lindsay, Zack's sister whom I had been assured was a skilled trainer in her own right. I shrugged.

"Three?" I said. She smiled and nodded.

"Charizard!" she called, just as I said:

"Ampharos! Thunderbolt!"

"Flamethrower!" Charizard's fierce stream of flame struck just after Ampharos' lightning attack. Charizard took more damage but Ampharos recoiled and rather than give my Pokémon a chance to counter Charizard took to the sky. "Flamethrower!"

The burning attack swept across the field, Ampharos at the centre.

"Thunderbolt!" Aim for the wing! Then get out of there!" The electric attack caught Charizard on her wing and she roared in pain, rolling in midair to slow her fall and landing on her legs and one arm, the other clutching her wing. "Again!" This blast caught Charizard on her chest and slammed her back.

"And again!"

"Jump to the left! Dragon Claw! Wing Attack!!" I was astounded by Charizard's speed as she leapt to the left and then forward, slashing Ampharos with glowing claws and then throwing his weight behind his good wing and slamming it into Ampharos, knocking her off her feet.

"Flamethrower!" commanded Lindsay and another burst of fire finished Ampharos off.

"Alright, Meowth!" I shouted "Use Mega Punch!" Charizard stepped backward into a defensive position but Meowth was quicker and struck under Charizard's guard.

"Flamethrower!" commanded Lindsay.

"Get in close and Slash!" Meowth moved forward and leapt up, raking her claws across Charizard's face. Charizard howled and raised her arms to shield herself.

"Jump off and Mega Punch again!" I said gleefully and Meowth somehow interpreted that to include a backflip, gracefully pushing off and striking Charizard in the belly as she came down. Charizard roared and fell, taken down with little effort expended on Meowth's part.

"Wow," said Lindsay "I try not to underestimate Pokémon, but that Meowth took me completely by surprise." I grinned. "Hmm... who now? I know, come on out Lunatone!"

I'd never actually seen a Lunatone in the flesh but I knew a bit about them from Pokémon handbooks and the battles on TV, i.e. that they were moderately tough Rock/Psychic type Pokémon native to Hoenn.

"Tackle!" commanded Lindsay and Lunatone moved forward suddenly.

"Dodge it! Now Faint Attack!" Meowth was too fast for Lunatone and sprang away before launching a super effective hit. "Again!'

"Hypnosis!" Lindsay commanded and Lunatone's non physical attack was faster that I anticipated and the attack nearly succeeded. Meowth was dizzy from the attack however and was prey to another attack.

"Psywave!" commanded Lindsay and an invisible force struck Meowth, the critical hit knocking her flying. Lindsay grinned.

"Faint Attack!" Lindsay's smile faded when Meowth sprang up and leapt forward to deal another powerful blow. "And again!"

"Back away! Psywave! Psywave!" Lunatone hovered backwards at speed as Meowth came to attack again and when Meowth got too close a Psywave forced her to change direction.

"Back it up against the wall!" I commanded and Meowth changed direction, herding the still moving backward Lunatone towards the outside wall of the Gym. "Finish this!" I commanded and with a final Faint Attack Meowth finished off her opponent.

"Man, that Pokémon's good," remarked Lindsay appreciatively "Sandslash! Use Slash!" A large Sandslash emerged and Meowth was too slow to avoid a vicious Slash.

"Mega Punch!" It soon became apparent that while Meowth was more lithe, Sandslash, despite being big, was very powerful and quick. Meowth's speed failed to give her the edge and Sandslash's power was too much- at a final Dig, Meowth was knocked aside and defeated. I needed, I decided, a Pokémon super effective against Ground. And fast. That or Ninetales. I decided on Poliwrath.

"Go Poliwrath! Use Bubblebeam!" The fast moving projectiles were strong and Sandslash was unable to avoid them, the first few knocking her back before she sprang away.

"Slash!" commanded Lindsay.

"Mind Reader," I said, "and brace yourself. Now… Dynamicpunch!" Poliwrath stood and bore the attack, sighting his opponent. Then he threw his weight into a powerful punch that caused considerable damage. We followed up with a Bubblebeam and from there we blocked Sandslash's attacks, though less effectively when she used Dig.

"Dig!" Lindsay commanded again, and Poliwrath braced himself for the hit. Sandslash surfaced and struck Poliwrath bodily, under his guard.

"Grab him!" I shouted on instinct and Poliwrath caught Sandslash, who wriggled to no avail.

"Rapid Spin!" commanded Lindsay and Sandslash whirled around, vicious claws leaving tiny lacerations on Poliwrath's skin. I winced; that had to hurt.

"Dynamicpunch!" I yelled. It was risky, without the security of Mind Reader but Poliwrath hit- his fist smashed into Sandslash with power- the shrew Pokémon had trouble standing. "Now Bubblebeam!" and Poliwrath finished off his opponent with a final attack. We recalled our Pokémon.

"Zack was right," I remarked "you are a great trainer." Lindsay nearly blushed. I grinned. "Incidentally, where exactly did you get that Charizard?"

"You know the Bluegrass plains Pokémon reserve?"

"Oh yeah, we went on an excursion there once."

"Well there's this thing where you can get one of the original starter Pokémon- Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur. You pay something- I don't remember how much, but anyway er… you… can catch one."

"Ok, thanks."

"And the Lunatone?"

"Rock Tunnel. I found one it at like the very bottom, some Hiker I met said they were like unheard of and no one knew they were there so I kind of... discovered them."

"Wow," I said, impressed.

"My god Zack's a good battler," exclaimed Morgan loudly as he came up to us.

"He won?" Lindsay said dryly.

"Hell yeah, he kicked my ass." _That doesn't surprise me_.

Morgan and I had lunch in a café, and plotted our course. It would require a detour almost as large as the one that had taken us from Vermillion to Celadon. We would need to go either to Vermillion and through Diglett's Cave and then south to Cinnabar or go to Celadon, down Cycling Road, stop off at Fuchsia and then go around Seafoam Islands. We opted for the Vermillion route, and set off a bit after noon that day. We hiked for the day and the next day we dropped in at home for the final time on our journeys. From there we travelled across familiar territory- the path east from Vermillion.

We made camp about halfway there and continued the next day, pausing to catch the few species found in the area that led to the pier where I had been attacked by a Gyarados that time. Later that day we entered the narrow Diglett's cave. Not surprisingly the only species of Pokémon we found were Diglett. The ceiling was lower than my head at times so I walked almost with a constant hunch. My back was very sore so when we reached a clear area I suggested we lay down for the night. We did so, without tents of course and I later regretted stopping- Morgan embarked on a series of jokes about long things in tunnels listening to which was far more painful than any cramps.

It was by far the most ground we had covered in four days- the tunnel was half Kanto's width diagonally- but it was very direct with no obstructions. It was almost claustrophobic though. If there was an accident we were screwed.

We came out a day's march above Viridian, and after a day's march we were in Viridian. Scary the way things work sometimes, huh?

We stayed in a motel in Viridian and when we went to restock our supplies- Pokémon food, Poke balls, etc. I noticed that Viridian Gym was missing.

"Hey Morgan," I said "wasn't there a Gym there once?"

"Nah, you're imagining things," he replied.

I wasn't, of course, I proved it to myself later- I said "what happened to Viridian Gym, d'you know?"

"I don't know," he conceded. I grinned "I mean what Gym- crap."

Another two days and we were in Pallet- where our journey had started.

"We've come full circle," Morgan remarked "now we have to make one more half rotation." I nodded uncertainly. _What_?

Since Kingler and Poliwrath probably didn't have the stamina to carry us across Pallet Strait, I decided Fearow would suffice- after asking of course, and Morgan borrowed a Lapras from Professor Oak. While there we also dropped off in person the latest Pokémon we had caught- a Diglett and Dugtrio each as well as my new Sandslash and Morgan's Ekans.

"Oh, and Josh," Oak said "your Weepinbell has now mothered more than ten young Bellsprout."

"Wow," I said. _Sounds like she's having fun_.

I'd never actually been on the sea before- the salt air and rush as the breeze washed over me were invigorating. When storm clouds threatened on our second day we urged our Pokémon forward, Fearow and I low over the waves so the increasing winds did not bother us so much and took refuge on a nearby island. Next morning the wild winds and rain had abated and we were on our way again.

Later that day I from my raised vantage point sighted land.

"Land ho!" I shouted.

"You're a tool!" Morgan shouted back and I shot ahead, using the swift breeze to my advantage; Fearow's skilful flying getting us to Cinnabar Island miles ahead of Morgan. Cinnabar had a relaxed atmosphere and fishing seemed to be a local pastime. There were fishers, fish markets; Morgan would have said I looked like a fish… There was a volcano that towered above the island, and near the east coast I could see Cinnabar Gym. Turning north I could see Kanto's mass dimly, and make out Johto.

This I took in at a glance before a startling noise jolted me out of my ponderings. I had trouble identifying the beeping until I put my hand close to my ear and it suddenly got louder. It was the emergency communicator on my Trainer's Gear. The number said Tanya Nation. A feeling of anxiousness, of foreboding stole over me. Everything seemed to be moving fast, or was it slow? I pressed the green button, thinking logically it would accept the call.

"JOSH? ARE YOU THERE?" said Tanya's voice loudly.

I moved my mouth to my wrist.

"What is it?"

"OW! TALK SOFTER!" I winced.

"You talk softer," I replied. Then I almost laughed as I realised we both had the loudspeaker on.

I moved my head away.

"What are you calling about?"

"It's-it's Steph. She's trapped- I, I twisted my ankle, I can't walk…"

"Where are you?"

Morgan walked up to me.

"Seafoam Islands,"

I terminated the call, heart pounding.

"So, o impatient one, where- oof!" I threw my pack at him.

"Don't ask questions. Go to Seafoam Islands and take care of Tanya. I'm faster."

I threw out Fearow's Poké Ball and called him. He looked confused at the unfamiliar summons. I managed to convey we were going east-ish and we took off, Fearow sensing my urgency and heading at a high speed. We arrived soon at a pair of connected islands, like a figure eight. My sister's partner Tanya was sitting, one leg outstretched for comfort's sake outside a yawning cave mouth.

"I- it was so stupid!" she cried. "I was seeing how long it would take for her to realize I had her Pokémon, and then a Dewgong- she could only run- it knocked me over with its tail…"

"It's going to be fine," I said, and leaned down, hugging her reassuringly. She was even paler than usual, and shaking. "I told Morgan to come here, he'll be here soon, I should go now."

Taking a deep breath, I walked into the cave. Immediately a wave of cold hit me, and I gasped. I had no jacket; it was in my bag. Steeling myself, I ran into the cave. It was a twisting place, sometimes sloping downwards, sometimes a rocky face I scrambled up, ignoring the grazes on my cold-deadened skin. But what was permanent was the cold, the bitter, deadening, permeating cold. _I knew I was going here, why didn't I bring a jacket_? It was a different type of exploration, searching for a person rather than the exit. Then suddenly I heard a sob from up ahead.

Echoes were deceptive- it took me almost another minute to reach where Steph stood, whirling, no idea where to go. Then a Dewgong entered through another passage, and Steph cried "not again!"

She went to head down a side passage but I said: "Wait. Ninetales! Flamethrower!" My beloved starter Pokémon attacked Dewgong, the enemy startled into fleeing. "Great job, Ninetales."

"Josh!" cried Steph, and flung herself at me, hugging me tightly "I thought I'd never get out…" Then she took a breath and steadied herself.

"Now, it was this way, wasn't it?" I smiled as I recalled Ninetales. After being helpless, she clearly wanted to be assertive and save face.

But before she could go any further, a figure exploded out from behind her, slamming its wing into her head. I gasped as Steph fell over onto the ground, unconscious. Then my gaze drifted upward.

A magnificent blue bird stood in front of me, and cocked its head. Its powerful wings seemed to have a very fine hail falling from them. Its fine plumage was of deep blue, but its breast was snow-white. Its tail was long and flowing, flicking around its ankles. It stood taller than I.

This was the legendary bird of ice, Articuno.

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Yeah, a slightly more dramatic end to a chapter than 'we set off for Viridian City'.


	2. Chapter 2: Legendary Encounter

After what is widely considered to be the world's best cliffhanger, Josh now squares off against one of the mightiest of beasts, a Legendary Pokémon! And in my version, they're called that for a reason.

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**Poké****mon: Josh's Journey**

Chapter 2 Legendary Encounter

Articuno gave a high, wild birdcall. My breath caught in my throat. A Legendary Pokémon! One of the most powerful creatures alive! Articuno clearly ruled this icy domain. It took me perhaps ten seconds to remember that it was, after all, a Pokémon. True, it was one of the strongest in existence, but indeed it was a Pokémon. I was unaware of choosing a Poké Ball, my eyes fixed firmly on those of the Legendary bird of Ice.

Unconsciously I threw the Poké Ball out, and Articuno seemed pleased that it had a challenger. So maybe it wouldn't Ice Beam me. Yet. Meowth emerged, and Articuno looked affronted that it had such a weak challenger.

"Mega Punch!" I commanded. Meowth threw a punch into Articuno's soft stomach. The bird looked highly unimpressed. Articuno narrowed its eyes and its beak opened wide. A ball of white energy formed in its beak. Time seemed to freeze, _and then the Ice Beam was released_. A thick beam of white Ice energy struck Meowth, thick shards of ice spinning off from the terrific force of the attack and the strength blasting her into the wall; the attack was all powerful and Meowth collapsed, body frigid as I, ignoring sense, rushed to her side and picked her up, before returning her. I swallowed. How was I even supposed to put up a fight against this thing, let alone defeat it or at least distract it so that I could grab my sister and run? Shakily I recalled her and took out a second Poké Ball.

"P-Poliwrath, go. Dynamicpunch." Poliwrath emerged, squared his fist and attacked. However, this time Articuno was faster. A basic Peck to the neck was all that was needed to subdue my fierce fighter, Articuno moving blindingly fast and striking with incredible vicious force. Frantically I selected another, whilst recalling Poliwrath.

"Ampharos!" I shouted, with the first real note of confidence yet. Ampharos was very fast for her kind, and if she could hit with a Thunder she might do some serious damage.

"Thunder!" I shouted. Ampharos crackled, alive with lightning, and delivered a massive jolt of electricity, illuminating the whole room, to Articuno. After the bolt had struck, a few sparks arced their way around the bird's body. I gaped. Hardly any damage had been done at all! This was impossible!

Articuno used another Ice Beam, demolishing Ampharos' health. I needed to almost duck as the form of my defeated Pokémon was hurled over my head by a flap of Articuno's wings.

Then the bird ran out of patience. I hurled myself out of the way, giving a jump that would shame a Rapidash, my bag falling open splitting open as I slammed into the ground, the shock hurling my Poké Balls everywhere as the Pokémon's beak drove into the ground where I had been standing. The bird was now eying me. I picked up a Poké Ball from next to me and hurled it at Articuno. To my surprise, the Articuno blinked, and then vanished inside.

When I landed, and the impact had thrown my Poké Balls off my belt, I saw that as my bag had split, various Potions had broken open and that Poké Balls and other items had been scattered everywhere. I had accidentally used a spare one to unknowingly attempt to capture Articuno. Suddenly Articuno burst out of the Poké Ball with hardly any effort.

I tried again to release a Pokémon, this time choosing Vileplume. I had, however, no idea what Vileplume could do to combat this opponent.

"Err..." Articuno attacked before I could say the words 'Sludge Bomb', and yet again one of my Pokémon was defeated instantly by a deadly Ice Beam. I whimpered. I was fighting an invincible opponent, my sister was lying on the ground, unconscious, maybe injured, and also, my back really hurt from that hard landing. There was nothing I could do.

A white ball of ice energy formed in Articuno's beak, and I gave a dry sob. So this was how it was to end, was it? After all the laughter, fun, adventure, I was going to be struck down by the Legendary bird of Ice. Figures. I closed my eyes. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Somehow the cold, the ease with which my Pokémon, my allies, my partners, my _friends_ had been defeated, coupled with the knowledge that Steph was lying helpless, thanks to cruel Fate, represented by the Legendary bird of Ice, and that I was facing it with nothing, struck me down, forced me to my knees and left me devoid of hope.

I couldn't help it. I turned my head away, not wanting to stare into the face of demise. The bitterly cold wind stung against the salty tears of terror on my cheeks.

The blast never came. I whipped around, and saw that Fearow, of his own accord, had leapt from the confines of his Poké Ball, directly in the way. Wonder spread across my face, as heat melting the ice of fear. Seeing my Pokémon do such a thing when he knew that there was no hope of survival, reenergized me. I picked up two Poké Balls, the still open one that was Fearow's, and the first one that came to hand.

I hurled one at Articuno, and while the bird Pokémon was still escaping, recalled Fearow- I had no time do the same for Ampharos and Vileplume- and then tried to find the last Poké Ball that contained a Pokémon. As I ran my hands over them, trying to find Ninetales', I felt a heat source from one of them, next to two others. No...

Having no better idea, I threw it. Success!

"Ninetales!" I commanded "the second it comes out, use Flamethrower!" Ninetales nodded. The Poké Ball that Articuno was in shuddered, and then burst open.

"Now!" Ninetales let loose with a spectacular burst of flame, washing over the startled bird. Ninetales concentrated the fire on Articuno's face, delivering a brutal blast to Articuno. The bird was burned, and I felt savage triumph. If we could only keep this going long enough... I picked up a Poké Ball and once again attempted to contain Articuno.

"Ready?" I asked. Ninetales nodded.

"NOW!" As Articuno again broke free, Ninetales once more used a Flamethrower attack, catching the bird unaware. Now that I had a strategy, and firepower to back it up, I managed to find Vileplume's ball- it stood out as I used a Great Ball- and continued with my strategy. Again and again flames washed over the bird, who was unable to resist. Or was it?

Without warning, Articuno gave a pre-emptive strike. Ninetales, who might normally have avoided the blast, was too wrapped up in preparing to attack that the Ice Beam caught him full on, encasing him in crystalline ice completely. I gazed, horrified, at my defeated warrior. Even if he had endured the attack, he was frozen solid. Articuno leapt over to me and as it landed it crushed my only Ice Heal.

The now familiar ball of white energy formed in Articuno's maw. I was ready. As the bird attacked, I threw myself out of the way.

"Melt the ice!" I shouted to Ninetales, and avoided an attack by sliding under the deadly beam. In a fit of rage I hurled a nearby Shellder at Articuno, who was confused, and then pursued the Pokémon.

"Come on, Ninetales," I begged "break free of the ice! Use a flame attack!" Somehow, he heard. As Articuno prepared to attack, Ninetales gathered fire in his mouth, melting the ice just around his mouth. Ninetales brought his jaws together, and then snapped them out, cracking the ice around his whole head. Even though the fire building in his mouth must have been scorching, Ninetales persisted, and eventually broke the ice, and blasted a huge fireball at Articuno, who fell, burn worse than ever.

However, Ninetales' triumph was short-lived. Articuno used another Ice Beam; this one annihilating Ninetales' health.

With mind-numbing terror again creeping through my mind, I ran for it. Articuno had won against my Pokémon, and now here was the human, the prey. Articuno stalked me through the tunnels, moving stealthily as I ran for it.

My breath caught in my throat. I stumbled, but moved on. I didn't want to move too far from my Pokémon, even though there was nothing I could do to help them. I ran for my life, all too aware that Articuno was following me. There was no way I could shake the predatory bird. Even if I could find the exit, there was no doubt in my mind that I could not leave my Pokémon, or Steph. Articuno was waiting for me as I rounded a bend that led off into a ravine.

I hurled my last Poké Ball at Articuno, and while the beast was still contained, hurled it down the ravine. I ran for it again.

Within a minute I realised I was back at the site of the battle. I picked up the two Poké Balls sitting by themselves and recalled Ninetales and Ampharos. I put their Poké Balls on my belt. I now had a full team of six defeated Pokémon, I thought bitterly. I quickly crossed over to Steph, and hung her arms around my neck. She weighed my down, and all the running had given me a stitch. Also, the times I had jumped out of the way of one of Articuno's attacks had injured my back and right leg.

I slowly limped over to my bag to gather the remaining items. As I painfully made my way to the arch that led to the tunnels that, in turn, led to the exit, I stepped on something hard. It was a Revive. I gazed at it in wonder, then reached to my belt and drew out a Poké Ball.

Fearow flopped out onto the ground. I pressed the Revive to his forehead, and it sank in like a hot poker into snow, like Evolution stones. Fearow was bathed in golden radiance and awoke.

"Can you carry two?" I asked. Fearow dipped his head slowly. I clambered on and helped Steph. And we were off, speeding away. We navigated the tunnels at breakneck speed, aware that Articuno could attack us at any time, and I hoped fervently that it didn't.

It did.

Articuno came hurtling out of a tunnel that was running perpendicular to ours, claws open and a screech rending the air.

"Leave me the hell alone!" I shouted, and pressed the button on an Ultra Ball to contain it. I raised the Ultra Ball. My hand was shaking, but as soon as I steadied it I hurled the Ultra Ball away.

What bad luck! The tunnel we were taking ended in a dead end, and now Articuno was blocking the way out. I realised that we would have to fight our way through, stun the Pokémon.

"Drill Peck!" I shouted, but just as I said the word 'Peck' Articuno lunged forward. I braced myself... But Articuno merely attacked a perfectly innocent Slowpoke. I was confused. What exactly was going on here...?

And then it hit me. When I went to hurl the Ultra Ball away, my hand hadn't been shaking, it was the Ultra Ball. And when I had said 'Drill Peck', Articuno had responded to the word 'Peck' and attacked the Slowpoke. Without even realising, _I had caught Articuno, the legendary Pokémon of Ice!_

This was incredible! I may well be one of the strongest trainers ever! I could hardly believe it. I had to see it.

"Ice Beam!" I said hesitantly. Articuno formed energy, and then struck the Slowpoke with a beam of intense power. Poor Slowpoke. I laughed jubilantly. I was indeed the Master of a Legendary Pokémon! I picked up the Ultra Ball and returned Articuno. Then I grew uneasy. Did I really need a Legendary Pokémon on my team? Would not every battle be dull and boring, as Articuno would defeat anything instantly? Articuno was simply too powerful.

Fearow moved backward so we slid off and started to flap away, sadness evident in his movements.

"Wait, Fearow!" I called "Where are you going?" Articuno burst out and looked at me.

_You dropped Fearow's Poké Ball,_ Articuno said in a voice of telepathy _he thinks you have abandoned him, as you have caught a far stronger flying Pokémon to take his place._

"Wait, that's not it! Fearow, you were the first Pokémon I ever caught! No one could take your place! Please come back!" Fearow turned and flapped back towards me.

"Articuno, you're wonderful and powerful," I said "but I don't... _need_ you to travel with me. Can you please stay here?" Articuno dipped its beautiful head, and said _I understand_. Then Articuno flew away, back into the depths of the Seafoam Islands.

"And avoid trainers!" I yelled after it. My shout roused Steph. She awoke slowly.

"What happened?" she said confusedly "I feel like I saw- blue feathers?"

I smiled.

"Who knows?" I said mysteriously "maybe the dickhead's Pidgeot looked blue for some reason."

I didn't think I wanted to tell anyone my secret, not just yet.

-----

"Hey Morgan, do you know where my Pokédex is?"

"I've got it. A new entry, huh? 'Articuno is a legendary bird that can control ice. The flapping of its wings is chills the air. As a result, it is said that where this Pokémon flies, snow will fall.' …You're kidding, right?"

* * *

Next chapter: Josh squares off against Blaine, Cinnabar Island Gym Leader.


	3. Chapter 3: Fire with Fire

**Pokémon: Josh's Journey**

Chapter 3 Fire with Fire

"You've got to be kidding me," said Morgan "you- messed with your Pokédex. You... painted your Fearow blue. Or stuck wings on your Poliwrath. There's simply no way you caught the Legendary bird of Ice."

"Well, I battled skilfully, kept my _cool_-" Morgan groaned at the use of the word cool "and just went for it. I figured I had to. It was sort of my destiny. It was the only thing I could do."

I didn't mention the terror, the crippling fear, the fact that I'd caught Articuno by accident, had lost all my Pokémon... and certainly not how cold it was, he would have just laughed at that.

Before we battled our seventh Gym Leader, I suggested we have a practice battle.

"How many?" he asked.

"Three?"

"And we won't use our starters," he suggested.

"Why?"

"Why not? And no Legendary Pokémon either. Let's go, Kingler!"

"Poliwrath! Mind Reader!" I commanded.

"Use Bubblebeam!" countered Morgan.

"Dynamicpunch!"

"Protect!" Kingler bore the hit by blocking with his large pincer, knocking Poliwrath off guard. "Vicegrip to Stomp!"

Kingler grabbed Poliwrath's soft body in his huge pincer and constricted. When Poliwrath struggled enough to free himself Kingler completed the combo by hurling his opponent at the ground and driving both his left legs into him.

"Hypnosis!" I shouted frantically but Morgan repeated his command and took Poliwrath out. Glaring, I prepared to bring out my next Pokémon.

"Don't feel bad," Morgan said kindly "I've been training Kingler up to fight the Fire type Gym Leader. Of course," he added "that's no excuse for losing so miserably..." I rolled my eyes and prepared to use my second Pokémon.

"Vileplume!" I shouted "use Giga Drain!" Kingler, though he had fought flawlessly against Poliwrath, recoiled from the powerful hit. "Sludge Bomb! Giga Drain! Again!" Kingler scuttled aside furiously as the attacks missed narrowly.

"Bubblebeam!" Vileplume barely felt the attack, but the force moved him back a step and Morgan shouted "now!" and Kingler moved forward quickly.

"Step back, Giga Drain!"

"Jump to Stomp!" Morgan shouted. Vileplume stepped back and attacked with a Giga Drain but Kingler leapt into the air and twisted to smash both his left legs into Vileplume, who staggered but recovered quickly.

"Giga Drain!" Vileplume struck at point blank range, the attack finishing Kingler off and restoring a lot of health. I smirked.

"Your move," I declared.

"Jynx!" he called triumphantly, and released Jynx. The Ice/Psychic type had two type advantages over mine, and I didn't fancy my chances. Then I had an idea.

"Giga Drain!" I shouted "get in close!" I knew Morgan, with his 'take-advantage-of-people' battling attitude would allow the attack to finish and then strike for a critical hit. I was not disappointed, and put my plan into action. "Now stop the attack and use Sludge Bomb! Again! Again!"

The tables had turned; Vileplume scored three quick critical hits- not very effective as they were, they still scored a lot of damage together, not to mention badly poisoning Jynx. Jynx staggered as the weakening poison took its toll on her and we completed the battle with a combination of avoidance techniques and attacks that forced Jynx back, played for time and allowed the poison to help defeat our opponent. I was flushed with victory, and Morgan was kind of pissed off. His trump card had been defeated oh so neatly and he was contemplating who to use. Vileplume, though still healthy, was exhausted and would make an easy target. But then I could use type advantage to my, well, advantage.

Reaching a decision, he released Gengar, confident. As I had predicted, Vileplume went down easily, because although the two had similar power Gengar's speed and Psychic attack let him attack with little fear of retribution and indeed Vileplume struck only once with a Giga Drain. Gengar could handle most any type, but he did not reckon on Meowth.

"Faint Attack!" I commanded, and Meowth went to attack but Gengar managed to avoid it, leaping lightly away.

"Hypnosis!" commanded Morgan but Meowth was too fast and his attack met thin air as Meowth dodged to the side and sprinted forwards, preparing for an attack.

"Faint Attack!" I shouted but again Gengar avoided, and again tried a Hypnosis, and again Meowth avoided it... Meowth finally struck with a Faint Attack. This laid the way for another Faint Attack and although Gengar disrupted Meowth's combo by forcing her to dodge a Psychic, the damage was done.

"Psychic!" shouted Morgan, and the closeness of the attack to Meowth sent her stumbling forward. "Pick her up!" Gengar extended a hand and as Meowth struggled to escape from the sudden psychic clutches I was reminded of a similar struggle between Sabrina's Alakazam and the same Meowth. In this instance, however, the contest was level and Meowth hadn't been exhausted at all.

She wrenched herself out of Gengar's grip.

"Faint Attack!" and the battle was ours.

"Not so fast!" shouted Morgan as I went to recall Meowth "let's extend this to four Pokémon each, still no starters by the way." I sighed "Okay? Then let's go Magneton!" He had chosen well- before Meowth could attack; she was forced out of her movement by a Thunderbolt.

"Run up the left!"

"Thunderbolt!"

"No I- oh." Meowth feinted to the right before running forwards and leaping...

"Again!" shouted Morgan and a Magneton struck, the Thunderbolt plucking my Pokémon out of the air and blasting her away. Meowth panted, and as soon as I said "now," she bolted and hurled herself out of the way of Magneton's Thunderbolt, rolling to crouch right under it.

"Faint Attack!" I commanded and though Magneton tried to avoid Meowth was too fast and struck, Dark energy surrounding her fist as she drove the powerful attack home. She followed up with another but Magneton intervened with a Tri Attack, the attack causing a burn and knocking Meowth to the ground.

"Finish this!" shouted Morgan "Thunderbolt!"

"Dodge it, jump, Low Kick!" I commanded, quickly as I could without garbling the words, although they were a bit garbled anyway. Meowth again dodged the attack by rolling to the side, and then jumped up, eye to eye with Magneton, then grabbed Magneton's top two protruding magnets and hurling the Pokémon downward and finally spinning to deliver a midair Low Kick attack. Magneton was smacked out of the air and into a tree, defeated by the expertly executed attack.

Morgan appeared to think it over before proclaiming "that'll be all I think."

"Why?" I asked "is it because due to my amazing battling you're left with two Pokémon and I have four?"

"... shut up." I grinned.

-----

"So you said the Gym Leader trains Fire types?" I asked as I tried to decide who to train next.

"No, I said he was the Fire type Gym Leader. Listen more," replied Morgan slowly and insultingly. I took a deep breath.

"So he does train Fire types?"

"Y- yeah, I suppose," he relented, glaring. I sighed.

"So did you want to train any more, or just heal our Pokémon now and go for it?" I asked.

"Nah, continue 'till they're exhausted. Come on, we'll see how much my Kingler can match your Ninetales' Flamethrower."

So we released our respective Pokémon and Ninetales started on a low power attack while Kingler attacked with Bubblebeam, the bubbles popping in the heat and their energy blasting the flame away. We continued until Kingler was at his limits, then they both relaxed. Cheekily Ninetales shot a small fireball at the crab Pokémon. Next we trained some other Pokémon but for Morgan training Kingler was most important as half his Pokémon were weak against Fire type. We continued in this fashion, then stopped off at the Pokémon Centre to heal before we took on the Fire type Gym Leader.

In a break with tradition, I went in first. It looked to be a simple fight the Gym trainers, walk up to the Leader and fight them, as there were a group of five Gym Trainers standing next to each wall and a chair at the back of the Gym in which sat a man in shadows. Since the Gym was Fire type, I decided to fight the Gym Trainers' Pokémon with Fearow and Vileplume for advanced training.

A man approached me. Unlike the Gym Trainers, who wore black shirts with fire emblems, this man wore a suit.

"I will now ask you a series of questions," he informed me "if you answer correctly, you may continue. If you answer incorrectly, you lose and must face a trainer." _On one hand, training is training_. _On the other, I could always train later_.

"Why?" I asked bluntly.

"Blaine likes games," he remarked with a strange smile. Then: "are you ready?"

"Yep."

"Question one: what is the Fire type 'starter' Pokémon in Sinnoh?"

"Oh, right, that's the monkey one… Chimchar," I replied confidently.

"Correct. Question two: which of the following Pokémon does not need an Evolution Stone to evolve; Growlithe, Vulpix, Torkoal and Eevee?"

"T- Ee- wait, Eevee and Torkoal. You never said only one Pokémon!" I declared.

"Excuse me?"

"Well Torkoal for one doesn't evolve, and Eevee can evolve without an Evolution Stone, say into Umbreon."

"Correct you are, you're a sharp one." I smiled. "Question three: which of the following two attacks has the most base power: Sacred Fire or Flamethrower?"

"Sacred Fire?" _Wait, that was in one of our school textbooks. They discovered this Smeargle in the wild in Johto and it had this attack that had never been seen before- Sacred Fire. It had a base power of…_ "Sacred Fire, it leads by one hundred points to ninety-five!"

The next four questions I got right, and of course they were all fire themed, even one question about Entei, Legendary dog of Fire. I stumbled on question eight though, mixing up Torkoal and Camerupt, and as a result I had to fight a Gym Trainer. _That shirt really looks good on her,_ I noticed as the cute young brunette drew her only Poké Ball, then snapped myself out of it.

"Mara calls Charmeleon!" she shouted, and released a very fit looking Charmeleon. "Flamethrower!" she then commanded after I released Fearow.

"Fly!" I commanded and Fearow flew above the strong flame attack before hurtling down.

"Slash," she commanded and Charmeleon extended his claws to strike.

"Mirror Move!" I called a split second later and Fearow instantly copied, using his bearing weight to increase the strength of his attack and their claws met, but Fearow overpowered Charmeleon. "Now Drill Peck!" Fearow drove his attack home but then Charmeleon reacted and used his full body strength to smack Fearow in the chest, sending him flying backward. For a split second I considered letting Mara- _what a beautiful name_- win, but then mentally kicked myself. The battle lasted a while, with the two very evenly matched but eventually Fearow gained the upper hand and struck a fatal blow, knocking Charmeleon out.

Mara smiled. "Good battle," she said, stepping forward to shake my hand.

"Thanks," I replied "you're a great battler." She smiled.

"Well this is the best Gym Trainer job available," she said proudly.

"Question nine: on what level does Ponyta evolve into Rapidash?" asked the man, and Mara walked back to her position with the other Gym trainers.

"Level forty," I replied.

"And question ten: how many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?" I blinked.

"What?" I asked disbelievingly. He smiled.

"Never mind, just my little joke." I chuckled. Suddenly all the Gym Trainers turned towards the wall, and I got the slightest bit weirded out. _What is going on here? _I wondered.

"Anyway, question ten: how many points does the flame on the Gym Trainers' logo have?"

"I- what?"

"On the flame logo. How many points did it have to it?" I gaped, and suddenly realised why they had all turned to the wall, to hide them. I almost laughed. What a ridiculous question! I thought back to my battle with Mara and recalled her uniform with embarrassing ease.

"Seven," I said, amused by the randomness of the question.

"Correct," he said "you may now battle the Gym Leader Blaine." Laughing softly to myself, I walked up to the man in the chair, and an old man stood up to challenge me.

"This battle will take place presently," he declared "and we shall each use four Pokémon." I stepped back and selected my first Pokémon.

"Charmeleon!" called Blaine.

"Meowth!" I called "Use Mega Punch!"

"Fire Punch!" countered Blaine and the two Pokémon both struck, knocking each other back.

"Slash!"

"Low Kick!" Meowth ducked under Charmeleon's attack and responded with a swipe of the foot that knocked Charmeleon to his knees.

"Get out of there!" Blaine said sharply.

"Faint Attack!" I countered and Meowth struck before Charmeleon could escape. The two Pokémon were very evenly matched- Meowth was more agile, but Charmeleon was stronger and more brutal. He was also far more powerful than Mara's Charmeleon had been, and Meowth was determined to triumph.

"Body Slam!" commanded Blaine.

"Mega Punch!" I said triumphantly and Meowth darted in and released the Mega Punch as an uppercut that landed in Charmeleon's belly and in a surge of strength Meowth launched her opponent into the air.

"Flamethrower," shouted Blaine and Charmeleon landed on all fours before standing up and releasing a massive flame attack that caught Meowth full on before she darted backward. Had Meowth been able to talk, I thought she might have said something along the lines of 'how dare you singe my whiskers'. Whenever Meowth got close for the next minute or so Charmeleon would force her to keep her distance with a burst of flame.

"Run straight at him!" I commanded suddenly and Meowth sprinted forward with surprising speed.

"Flamethrower! Toast her! Make this attack really-"

"Jump! Low Kick!" Meowth leapt high and Charmeleon's fire attack followed the arc of her flight, catching her in the flame before Meowth fell out of the sky and 'Low' Kicked Charmeleon in the head, cutting off the flame and smacking the Pokémon head over heels to land nearly fifteen feet from where Meowth stood.

I grinned.

"Charmeleon, return, come on Ninetales. Use Flamethrower!" Meowth was outclassed in speed but her stamina were enough to carry her on; she dealt out a Mega Punch before missing with a Low Kick and being caught with a Flamethrower. I recalled my Pokémon and then chose my Poliwrath.

"Use Bubblebeam!" I commanded and Ninetales was caught by a barrage of bubbles that exploded on impact. Ninetales roared before responding with a Flamethrower in an attempt to stop the attack. It worked, but a fire attack was not the way to go with Poliwrath- the attack did little to Poliwrath's oily skin and my Pokémon was free to respond.

"Mind Reader… Dynamicpunch!" Ninetales was taken my surprise as Poliwrath unleashed a massive punch, driving Ninetales to her knees.

"Return!" commanded Blaine and Ninetales leapt forward and attacked with a double-pawed physical attack, doing a large amount of damage. _Maybe my Ninetales should learn that move _I thought to myself. It would be effective, as Ninetales was my starter and he cared for me a great deal. "Again!" he said but, confused, Ninetales missed, attacking to left of her actual target.

"Hypnosis," I said smugly and Poliwrath's spiral pattern undulated, putting Ninetales to sleep. "Mind Reader. Dynamicpunch." Cursing, Blaine withdrew Ninetales before the command could be carried out.

"Rapidash!" called Blaine and released a very tall Rapidash. "Flamethrower! Run up to him! Stomp." Rapidash released a powerful steady stream of fire, concentrating the attack to exploit Poliwrath's weak point as the hotter the flame the lesser his ability to disperse it. Then Rapidash bolted up and before Poliwrath could even attempt to attack Rapidash brought her two front hooves down, breaking Poliwrath's stance and inflicting severe damage.

"Bubblebeam!" I shouted angrily but the damage Poliwrath did was far less than that done to him.

"Again!" commanded Blaine and Blaine repeated the manoeuvre.

"Dodge it!" I shouted and Poliwrath hurled himself out of the way but Rapidash's hoof came down and struck Poliwrath's leg, slamming it down to the ground and… The crack was like a physical blow to me- I gasped as Poliwrath cried out and felt light-headed and _scared_ as I saw Poliwrath's ankle bent the wrong way.

"Morgan!" I shouted.

"Yeah I know, Flame Wheel," he snapped.

"Get Poliwrath to the Pokémon Centre," I shouted, then in a low, determined voice "I have to finish this." Wordlessly I handed Morgan Poliwrath's Poké Ball and he departed with him.

"Josh," said Blaine "I truly am very sorry-"

"That's okay," I replied "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to win this quickly. Can we make it three Pokémon?"

"I'm sorry, no," he replied.

"Fine, Ninetales!" I shouted. I paused, and Blaine took the initiative.

"Flamethrower to Stomp combo!"

"Use your strongest Flamethrower!" I shouted, and Ninetales roared his challenge before standing his ground and letting loose with an astonishingly powerful Flamethrower. His stream of fire met and overpowered Rapidash's, the horse Pokémon's attack weak before Ninetales' overwhelming attack. Rapidash was caught full on in the blaze and the attack took her out almost instantly. Rapidash faltered in her charge and then fell to her knees and skidded along the ground, defeated. Blaine was shocked. His mouth open, he recalled his Pokémon.

"Next," I said.

"Arcanine!" he called "Flamethrower!"

"Flamethrower! Take this Pokémon down!" I shouted, and again one of Blaine's streams of fire met Ninetales and again Ninetales won out, his attack meeting and, after a tense minute, overpowering Arcanine's attack before toasting the dog Pokémon nicely. Such was his power that Arcanine, though Blaine's strongest could only ward off the Flamethrower for a minute at most. I held out my hand and Blaine wordlessly handed me my Volcanobadge.

I accepted it with a word of thanks and then left the Gym, pausing to pick up Morgan's pack. I ran all the way to the Pokémon Centre with a full backpack- I at least was smart enough to have left mine in the motel- where the nurse informed me that Poliwrath would be fine. I breathed a sigh of relief, and stayed in the Pokémon Centre that night. When my party was complete the next day, Poliwrath having made a full recovery, we set off.

For our eighth and last badge.


	4. Chapter 4: The Final Badge

**Pokémon****: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 4 the Final Badge

"Oh Josh," said Morgan "I have a message for you."

"Yes?" I replied.

"You didn't find out 'cause you ran away from the Gym," he began "but the eighth badge-"

"The one in... Viridian?"

"Nope, one of the first three Sevii Islands. He didn't tell us where, though. He recommended we check out the peak of Two Island, though. Anyway, shall we set off?"

_That makes it interesting,_ I mused _first we have to find the Gym, then we have to actually battle in it. Sounds fun. _"How do we get there?" I asked.

"Oh, there's like boats we can take. Come on." _Boats?_ We walked down the trail that led from the township of Cinnabar to the white sandy beaches. We arrived at the north pier and walked for what seemed like ages to go a quarter of the way around the island, to get to the east pier. There were about a dozen or so small boats lined up, bobbing gently in the swell. There were also a bunch of people hanging around.

"Ah Pokémon trainers," one greeted us, coming forward. "I'm Georges, are you here for the Seagallop service to the Sevii Islands?"

"Yep," I said brightly.

"Then could you present your Trainer Card and Volcanobadge, please?" I did so but Morgan dropped his Trainer Card and it stuck in the sand, then as he bent down to pick it up, a wave came in and carried it out to sea. Georges chuckled and released a Pelipper, who swooped down and snatched it out of the water before it could float further. Georges grinned, then inspected our things.

"Alright, hop in. Which island would you like to go to first?"

"Two Island," I replied.

"You mean Boon Island?"

"That's the one," I said "I never remember their proper names." Georges laughed.

"The locals would really like hearing you say that," he joked. He made good company, and his good humour was infectious- I could hardly stop grinning through our whole trip. We arrived at Two- Boon Island with the sun at its zenith, casting a beautiful sparkle over the azure waters. I took a deep breath, blissfully unaware of the adventure in store for me the next day.

_The peak, eh?_ I though as I stared at the large hill bulging out of the centre of Boon Island. _Not really a peak, but oh well._

"Let's get going," I said to Morgan. It took us a short while to reach the township. It was a very quiet place, even more relaxed than Cinnabar had been. There was no Pokémon Centre, so it was probably just as well that we had encountered no hardships so far.

"Hold on a minute," said Morgan, and rushed off to talk to someone. A minute later he had returned.

"Well?" I said.

"The eighth Gym is on Ember Mountain, One Island- Knot Island, I should say."

"How exactly-"

"I asked. Pretty pointless, not telling us where it is. Anyway, I wonder why we were encouraged to go to the peak?"

"Let's go anyway."

"Okay then."

So we set off up the surprisingly steep, sloping face of the hill. We walked on for most of the afternoon, but the island was very small and we reached the only place that looked as though it might be our destination in less than four hours. It was a small house, half overgrown with weeds, and when we knocked we were answered by an old woman.

"Ah, you are Pokémon trainers, yes?" she enquired.

"Yeah," replied Morgan. "We were... er... encouraged to come and see you."

"Of course. I can teach your Pokémon the ultimate moves."

"Ooh, ultimate," said Morgan.

"Those would be Hydro Cannon, Blast Burn and Frenzy Plant."

"Ultimate, huh?" I said, interested "how many Pokémon are we allowed to have them taught to?"

"One per team," she asserted. Morgan pouted.

"I'll have my Kingler taught Hydro cannon, please," asked Morgan politely. The old woman smiled, took Kingler's Poké Ball, released him and closed her eyes, placing her hands over Kingler's head, murmuring. Then she cackled, reached over to a chest and pulled out a TM.

"I love doing that, to weird the trainers out," she declared. She then handed Morgan the Hydro Cannon TM.

"I'll take a Blast Burn TM, and a medium fries," I said, and the old woman laughed again.

-----

Georges took us over to Knot Island, and again farewelled us with a cheery wave. Knot Island was quite a bit larger than Boon Island, and this one had a Pokémon Centre, where we rested up and spent the night.

And on the next day, the seventy-second day of our journey, we travelled to Ember Mountain.

We took a northward course through the terrain of fast tides, rock pools and sandy shores. At one point, after fighting off a vicious Pelipper that wanted to knock us into a rock pool, Kingler was challenged to some sort of mortal combat by a wild Kingler. The two circled each other, snarling with a strange sound I'd never heard before, and snapping with their smaller pincers. Suddenly they both darted forward and smashed down with their huge pincers. Morgan's Kingler struck a heavier blow forcing his opponent back, and with a series of small jabs dealt painful attacks to his opponent's legs, forcing the wild Kingler to stumble. And with a final attack, Morgan's Kingler smashed up his larger pincer, sending his opponent stumbling into the roiling sea.

"That was unexpected," remarked Morgan as he recalled his Kingler.

"Yeah," I agreed.

I began to see why this Gym was atop this mountain. We had not even reached Ember Mountain itself but the terrain was treacherous, the Pokémon frequent, and this was the greatest challenge we had been posed so far. Well, except for Seafoam Islands, but that was mainly because I'd encountered a Legendary Pokémon, I suppose.

So we forged on, and reached Ember Mountain with time to spare that day.

We entered the central cave of the behemoth of stone. The rock was of a reddish stone I was not familiar with. We encountered a variety of wild Pokémon in Ember Mountain along our winding upward path. Were it not for the Pokémon, this would have been an easier trek than Rock Tunnel, which felt claustrophobic. We went on, following the upward path that led us, eventually, to the summit. We emerged to a flat plain that stretched for maybe a hundred feet before it met an unmistakable Pokémon Gym. And leaning against a wall was Tanya.

"Hi, Morgan, Josh," she greeted us.

"Hi," said Morgan brightly, and I also responded.

"So where's Steph? Did you get rid of her in the tunnel?"

"Nah, she's- oh, here she is."

A man wearing a body length hooded trench coat walked out slowly, and practically skipping ahead was my sister, holding a flashing object.

"I did it!" she proclaimed "I got the Earthbadge!" Tanya high fived her.

"Oh, hi bro, Morgan," she said offhandedly. I laughed.

"I'm battling next!" Morgan proclaimed, and walked into the Gym. The Gym Leader walked after him. I made polite conversation with Steph and Tanya, who said they'd hang around until we'd finished. Tanya let me inspect her Earthbadge, and I found I had a nervousness about this Gym battle I hadn't experienced since I fought Brock of Pewter City. A while later, Morgan exited, smirking, flushed with pride and displaying his Earthbadge. The man smiled, then stared intently at me.

"Well Josh, I believe your idiot friend referred to you as," he declared. And I felt the first stirrings of unease. The Gym Leader smiled cruelly, and my unease grew. He ripped off his trench coat in one movement, revealing a tailored suit.

"I am Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket," he said.

-----

"What the hell are you doing here?" I shouted.

"Simple, I defeated the Gym Leader, took his place and I'm about to start stealing trainers' Pokémon _en masse_. Such a simple scheme, I don't know why I never thought of it before."

"Are we-" Tanya asked, horrified.

"Yes, you're the first. Congratulations. Your Pokémon, apart from Josh's are all weakened, as if I need the advantage, and-"

"But Morgan could beat you," I said "and I'm a much better trainer than he is-"

"Hey, I was the one who beat you in Fuchsia-"

"Shut up," said Giovanni. He did not yell, and the command contained no force, but it was filled with cold malice.

"These weak Pokémon,' he said scornfully "reflect nothing of my skill as a trainer. I am the leader of a criminal organization, don't forget."

Giovanni let all three Poké Balls at his belt fall and kicked them over the edge of the mountain. Steph grabbed my arm suddenly and pulled me toward the mouth of the cave. Lazily Giovanni pressed a button on his cufflink and a metal grate fell and cut us off from the exit with a horrifying, paralysing crash. The five of us were now trapped on top of the mountain.

_Articuno!_ I mentally shouted, desperate for help. _I will come,_ echoed back across my mind. I then took a deep breath.

"I challenge you, acting Gym Leader, to a battle." Giovanni scoffed.

"For all the good it will do," he said, shaking his head sadly. He drew from his jacket pocket a set of five Ultra Balls. "I call Nidoqueen!" Seeing Steph fumbling with a Poké Ball, Giovanni pressed his cufflink again, and then sent out another Pokémon.

"Dugtrio, use Dig, knock them into the cage." I was not quick enough on the draw, and by the time I had released Fearow Dugtrio had burrowed down and surfaced under Steph just as she started to withdraw what I assumed was Dragonite, knocking her, Tanya and Morgan backward into the mouth of the cave. Another press on the cufflink and two metal grilles descended, trapping my three friends in a square box. There was no room to summon any Pokémon.

"Damn it!" shouted Morgan "Why did I have to lose Gengar in the freaking battle?"

"Don't try anything," Giovanni said, "or I shall electrify the grates. I do not wish to bloody my hands, but I will if I must. And now, at long last, may we battle, Josh?" I nodded, fear erased by a sense of purpose and defiance.

"Drill Peck!" I shouted and Fearow dived forward, striking the behemoth that was Nidoqueen repeatedly.

"Body Slam!" commanded Giovanni and Nidoqueen lunged forward, bearing her considerable weight down on Fearow.

"Agility!" I shouted frantically and Fearow's increased speed allowed him to escape before he was completely crushed. "Drill Peck!"

"Ice Beam!" commanded Giovanni and Nidoqueen released a massively powerful Ice type attack that Fearow narrowly avoided, swooping away. _What's Ground the worst against? Flying. And of course, Ice also beats Grass which has an advantage over Ground. I bet Nidoqueen also knows a Dark or Ghost type attack to beat Psychic. No wonder Giovanni's the Leader!_

"Get in close, Mirror Move!" I shouted, confident, and Fearow swooped in forward, releasing an Ice Beam that got Nidoqueen off balance, forcing her back. "Drill Peck!" I screamed and Fearow slammed home another physical attack, knocking the off balance and hurt Nidoqueen off the side of the mountain. Nidoqueen gave a squeal of fear as she plummeted to the ground. After initial hesitation, Giovanni recalled her before she was dashed against the ground.

"Yeah! Go Josh!" shouted Steph suddenly "kick that bastard's ass!" I grinned as Tanya and Morgan cheered for me.

"Tri Attack," said Giovanni quietly and from behind me, the forgotten Dugtrio released a powerful attack that knocked Fearow out of the sky. I groaned, then took a deep breath.

"Vileplume!" I called "Giga Drain!" Dugtrio was quicker, and avoided the attack completely.

"Earthquake!" Giovanni commanded.

"Jump onto the wall!" I called "Giga Drain! Sludge Bomb!" Vileplume leapt at the mouth of the cave and clung there, launching his two attacks. Dugtrio managed to cut off the attack in time to avoid the Sludge Bomb but the Giga Drain hit home.

"Dig," said Giovanni and Dugtrio disappeared in a shower of earth. Suddenly he hurtled out of the wall itself, smashing Vileplume off his perch. "Fissure."

Dugtrio opened up a crack in the ground and dropped Vileplume into it- Vileplume was smashed against the sides and defeated as the sides ground against each other. Immediately I withdrew my Pokémon.

"Poliwrath!" I shouted "Bubblebeam!" Dugtrio was hit by several of the fast moving projectiles that Poliwrath sent in a spray that was sure to hit. Dugtrio's relatively low Special Defence was his undoing and he fell, defeated by two Pokémon's several attacks.

"Kangaskhan!" called Giovanni "use Mega Punch!" Kangaskhan leapt forward with surprising speed, slamming a fist under Poliwrath's jaw, knocking him into the air.

"Mind Reader! Dynamicpunch!" Poliwrath sighted Kangaskhan and as he landed lunged forward and struck with a crashing blow to the stomach. Kangaskhan did not hesitate, skill more than enough to combat the confusion.

"Solarbeam!" commanded Giovanni and Kangaskhan's skill and power allowed him to very quickly gather just the right amount of sunlight to take Poliwrath out with the minimal amount of effort. _That move was probably for Rock types, _I noted. "Continue gathering," he added.

"Ampharos! Thunderbolt!" I shouted and though the attack was dead on, a Solarbeam was forthcoming and uncompromising- Ampharos was taken out instantly. I recoiled. I'd lost four Pokémon, and his third was still standing. _Why does he only have five Pokémon?_

"Meowth!" I called.

"Oh, now this is rich!" laughed Giovanni "this Pokémon is pathetic, a first form Pokémon at this level, what a joke! Now, finish this whelp off, Solarbeam!"

"Avoid it! To the left! Mega Punch!" Meowth dodged quickly to the left, then sprinted forward, feinted to the left then leapt away from the incoming Mega Punch, swinging around a Mega Punch of her own that knocked Giovanni's Pokémon out cold.

"Such a stupid trainer at this age," I scoffed, and Giovanni shouted:

"Rhyperior! Crush this insolent Pokémon! Hammer Arm!"

"Faint Attack!" I had never seen this Pokémon before but it had a distinct resemblance to Rhydon, although with armour like plates of solid rock covering him. He brought a massive arm down for a strike but Meowth was again too quick and struck with a solid Faint Attack. The battle continued so, Meowth too fast and agile for Rhyperior to strike, although her escapes were getting more and more difficult. She struck over ten times but was barely wearing her opponent down.

"Rock Blast!" commanded Giovanni and from the holes in Rhyperior's arms were blasted five rocks that narrowly missed Meowth, knocking me back a step and gouging massive holes in our battlefield. "Rock Wrecker!" shouted Giovanni and Rhyperior slammed home the most powerful Rock type attack known, the hugely powerful attack wiping Meowth out instantly. I blanched. I then withdrew Meowth and released my Ninetales.

"Blast Burn!" I shouted, and Ninetales opened his mouth.

A shudder passed through the ground. A massive orb of flame flew straight at Rhyperior. It detonated.

There was a whirlwind of smoke as Rhyperior was blasted off the mountainside. Giovanni made no move to recall his still battle worthy Pokémon, merely releasing Persian, the last of his five Pokémon.

"Slash!" shouted Giovanni, and Persian leapt forward.

"Flamethrower!" I commanded, and Ninetales repulsed the cat Pokémon with a burst of flame, then stepped forward and increased the attack, cornering Persian, while Giovanni gazed on, horrified. Ninetales increased the power of the attack, burning Persian. Ninetales released huge amounts of flame, and when Persian tried to escape, I intervened.

"Blast Burn!" I shouted, and Ninetales released a massive explosive attack that defeated Persian instantly. Giovanni staggered.

"How- how could..." he paused "you have tried my patience far, Josh. But here it will end. Prepare to meet the most powerful Pokémon in the world! Mewtwo, I call you!" From inside his jacket, Giovanni drew a strange, purple Poké Ball with an 'M' inscribed on it in gold. And he released a Pokémon with an uncanny resemblance to the mythical ancestor Pokémon, Mew. Its face was mostly the same, though it stood more than six and a half feet tall and was more purple than pink. It had a long, purple tail and the Pokémon thrummed with barely contained, savage power.

"Give this boy a demonstration," said Giovanni softly "use Psychic." Mewtwo extended a hand and Ninetales went rigidly still. No matter how much he struggled, Ninetales could not budge. Then, with a flick of its hand, Mewtwo sent Ninetales flying into the grille- smashing it to pieces. Then Ninetales flew high before slamming back to ground with nearly bone–shattering impact. I recalled Ninetales, true fear setting in.

"Dragonite!"

"Alakazam!"

"Granbull!"

One by one, Steph, Tanya and Morgan cycled through their remaining Pokémon together, all attacking at once, trying to defeat the Legendary Pokémon. To no avail. Without fail, every single Pokémon was defeated. The four of us were hopeless. Doomed. Totally- _I have come._ Oh right, Articuno.

"Meet your maker, Mewtwo! Articuno! Use Ice Beam!" Articuno swooped into the battle, blue feathers sparkling in the sunlight, tail swishing through the air. Tanya and Steph gasped, Morgan grinned, Giovanni was shocked. A ball of white ice energy formed in Articuno's mouth and the Legendary Pokémon of Ice attacked with a freezing blast.

"Psychic!" commanded Giovanni, and Mewtwo extended a claw-like hand, the ice attack faltering as it met Mewtwo's defence. "Grab it!" he shouted, and Mewtwo sent energy after Articuno, trying to hold the Pokémon like it did the others.

"Agility!" I shouted and Articuno sped up, Mewtwo's attack missing. "Ice Beam again!" Articuno turned slowly in the air before zooming down towards Mewtwo, gathering a ball of Ice energy in its maw.

"Psychic! Knock it out of the air!" shouted Giovanni, and Articuno barrel rolled left and right, avoiding the invisible attacks- the evidence of which where the tonnes of rock blasted off the peak of Ember Mountain by the invisible attack. Then Articuno swerved to the left and released the attack. Mewtwo stepped to the side and again blocked the attack with psychic energy.

"Grab it!"

"Ice Beam again!" I shouted back and Articuno revolved to shoot another Ice Beam, disrupting the attack.

"To the left, and hold it," said Giovanni in a tone of menace, and Mewtwo avoided the attack by levitating quickly to the left and grabbing Articuno with an invisible net of energy. Articuno jolted in the air, and was completely still. Giovanni grinned.

"Try to get out!" I shouted, and Articuno struggled. Tiny movements wracked its frame as one Legendary Pokémon tested itself against another. The tense seconds stretched on.

"Don't you see, Josh? Your bird Pokémon is impressive, but Mewtwo is the ultimate bio-engineered Pokémon, cloned from Mew itself and even stronger than it. I must admit, you're full of surprises, boy. Firstly, you manage to defeat my best team of Pokémon, albeit with one more than I, but then when I reveal my trump card, you bring out a legendary Pokémon. Ah, such fun, to battle like this. But you simply cannot-"

"Hyper Beam!" Steph screamed, and her Revived Dragonite released a golden beam of energy that took the unsuspecting Mewtwo by surprise, the attack exploding on impact and causing a whirlwind of flowing smoke that obscured Mewtwo.

"Ice Beam!" I shouted and Articuno, liberated by Mewtwo's distraction, struck with a powerful Ice attack many times more powerful than Dragonite's blow.

"Josh!" hissed Steph. "Have you got any Revives?"

"I think there's one in my bag," I said back. "Ice Beam!"

"Hyper Beam!" The two attacks came one after the other but Mewtwo deflected them both, though not without effort.

"Ice Beam! Again!" Mewtwo was forced back by the powerful attack, too pressed to counterattack.

"Dragon Claw!" Dragonite flew forward and used his full bulk to crash down on Mewtwo, driving his claws forward...

"Starmie!" Use Hydro Cannon!" shouted Tanya.

"Gengar! Shadow Ball!" commanded Morgan.

"Ice Beam! Make this one really count!"

"Psychic! Use Dragonite to block the attacks!" shouted Giovanni quickly. Dragonite halted in midair, then turned in a large arc, his body being used to block the attacks. Mewtwo first blocked Shadow Ball, and then Hydro Cannon, but Ice Beam managed to tear Dragonite out of Mewtwo's grip, sending the huge Pokémon hurtling toward the Psychic type. Mewtwo lifted the falling Pokémon out of the way. It faltered...

"Blizzard!" I screamed, and Articuno unleashed everything it had- with a final blow, Articuno summoned a driving Ice attack that defeated the weakened Pokémon instantly. Mewtwo fell, struck down. Giovanni staggered.

"No! You-"

"It's over," I said quietly. "You've lost."

-----

Giovanni had tried to escape three times so far. Once he had tried locking himself inside the Gym but Articuno ripped the door off and from then on pinned him to the floor. Steph called the police on the Trainer Communicator, and Morgan and Tanya discovered the Gym Leader, gagged and bound. He gave me the Earthbadge, too. Said he had no Pokémon to battle with anyway.

So it was a very interesting way of getting my final badge, all in all.


	5. Chapter 5: Victory Road

Our heroes have come a long way, well; actually they've only gone a short distance from home. But they took many loops and have circumnavigated Kanto, so even though at this point in time they're not that far from home, they've still travelled a long way. Ahem.

Anyway, they go through Victory Road, as one might be able to guess from the title.**

* * *

**

**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 5 Victory Road

"I _still _can't believe we caught the leader of Team Rocket!" exclaimed Morgan.

"Please, that happened two whole days ago," I muttered, exasperated. Yeah, I was being sarcastic. I couldn't believe it either. Giovanni had been arrested and our newly opened bank accounts had a rather large deposit; the huge reward for his capture.

And in typical fashion we were going to buy lots of things with what we carried it- we were heading to Celadon Department Store to stock up on all the stuff exclusive to the store. And to appease our parents, we had gone via Vermillion for another final visit.

Four days later we arrived at Celadon. I picked up a selection of TMs, including an Iron Tail for Ninetales, while Morgan picked up some Pokémon RPG thing for his Trainer's Gear. Each to his own, I guess. And now we were as ready as we would ever be for the Pokémon League, which was where we set off to the next day.

-----

"Here we are, the final challenge," I remarked as we came upon the entrance to Victory Road, a huge open gate of white timber. The entrance was of impressive size, and some joker had scrawled 'here be dragons'.

"Duh, can we go in?" replied Morgan with crossed arms.

"Fine," I replied. "Just trying to give this a bit of occasion."

"What occasion? We'll be doing this three times, just go on in already!"

It was, as expected, very dark and the light faded the second we rounded the first bend.

"Ampharos!" I called "use Flash! And voila: we have light."

"Jeez, what is it with you," Morgan said exasperatedly. "Wow, we have light. Great job, Mr. Obvious McKitten."

"I- What?"

"Nothing," said Morgan offhandedly, and led the way. To teach him a lesson, I let him walk until he needed me to catch up with him since my Pokémon was the one giving light. He didn't return, and in the distance I heard '"Magneton, Flash"', and ran after him. _Idiot_. This was the hardest cave to traverse so far, with turns and loops abundant. I soon learned how unlikely it was for us to have encountered no Pokémon in our first minute for after that we were swamped by droves of Golbat, besieged by gangs of Graveler, er…

"We'd make better time if you actually walked, instead of mentally composing sentences," remarked Morgan.

"How did you-?"

"I could just tell," he replied.

"Besides, we're making plenty good time," I added. Indeed, having two Pokémon lighting the way was better illuminating out path than with one, and according to the GPS we were going in the right direction. Still, the cave stretched on ever further, and we were forced to spend the night in the cave, in a kind of round area off from the tunnel we followed. We built the campfire at the entrance so deter possible attackers.

"Alright troops," Morgan declared.

"There's only one of me, Morgan."

"Alright, troop, this is out first night camping in hostile territory, so we'll sleep in shifts. On second thoughts, when Alakazam sleeps, she's still kind of awake…" After asking politely, Alakazam kept watch for us, and once woke us when she engaged a Graveler that had peeked its head into out room in battle; i.e. blasting it back down the tunnel with telekinesis without moving an inch or showing any signs of awareness.

"Good work, Alakazam," Morgan said sleepily, then yawned and went back to sleep.

_The Pokémon here are probably strong enough to defeat Blaine_, I reflected after a rare Crobat took a Thunderbolt from Ampharos full on- before being taken out with a second attack, that is. I caught the Crobat eagerly- I now had all the evolutions without having trained any.

Later that day, at an indeterminable time- well after lunch anyway, we came upon a large room with two dead ends. There was a huge boulder blocking one tunnel, while two trainers, brothers I would have assumed if one wasn't a girl, stood regarding a solid wall of plaster.

"We could probably break through, Mary," the guy remarked "but if someone put it there for a reason, it's probably there…"

"For a reason, Gerald?" Mary said in a voice that clearly implied stupidity of Gerald's side.

"Ah, shut up, sis."

"Kingler, use Strength," Morgan commanded. Morgan had replaced Stomp with Strength in his Kingler's arsenal, because it was both more powerful and infinitely more useful in situations like this. Kingler slammed his massive pincer into the boulder, hefting it slightly and then with a roar hurling it into the opposite wall. Beyond the tunnel daylight streamed suddenly. A man leaned at the wall of the exit to the tunnel.

"Welcome to Indigo Plateau, site of the Pokémon League," he said in a monotone.

"Is your job _just_ to stand here and greet people?" asked Morgan.

"It is a fulfilling and worthwhile job," he droned "but that's not it, oh no, I also have to move that boulder back, so other trainers can overcome it. Brain the size of a… Machamp, move the boulder back, please. Call this job satisfaction…"

The thud of the boulder slamming back into place drowned out his words. Morgan and I looked around. Victory Road sat between a massive gate as did the other end, but another entrance led what appeared to be another part of the cave. The earthy ground soon gave way to a lush garden, with organized rows of trees through which led a path of bricks, bordered by the Pokémon statues one sees at the Gyms.

"Hey you two!" called Mary and Gerald. "You got healthy Pokémon left?" I shrugged.

"Sure."

"Let's battle then! You got six between you?" I thought for a second. _Meowth, Fearow and Ninetales are good to go, and Poliwrath is still in good shape. _ Morgan nodded to me, and I nodded back.

"So what, double battle with three each?"

"Sounds good," Gerald replied "hey sis, gimme either Zapdos or a Full Restore." Mary rolled her eyes, and rummaged through her back pack. I blanched. _He's kidding, right? She doesn't actually have a _Zapdos_, does she?_ Mary handed Gerald a Full restore, and he released an unsteady looking Dewgong, and restored her fully, hence the name.

"Now you two release your Pokémon," said Gerald "else you could plan a strategy or something."

"Ah, no matter how fair or unfair the match is, we'll win," said Morgan confidently "Josh, how many times have we double battled?"

"I dunno. Four?"

"And how many did we win?"

"I dunno. Four?"

"Exactly," concluded Morgan "that's a hundred percent".

"Yeah?" bragged Gerald "well we've won even more of our matches!"

Morgan, Mary and I and even Dewgong turned slowly towards Gerald and gave him a condescending look.

"Alright, Meowth!" I called.

"Vileplume," followed up Morgan, then whispered to her to start charging a SolarBeam.

"Zapdos!" cried Mary, from a -_Poké Ball?_ – released a Jolteon.

"You… nicknamed your Jolteon Zapdos?" I said.

"Thunderbolt!" she shouted in way of an answer, and Zapdos launched a deadly crackling Thunderbolt at Meowth, who dodged out of reflex.

"Mega Punch to Dewgong!' I commanded, to better assist Morgan, and Meowth sprang forward over to Dewgong and smacked him in the head with a very well executed right hook. "Again!"

Dewgong was too dizzy to respond so Mary ordered another Thunderbolt.

"Take the hit!" commanded Morgan "and release that SolarBeam!" Vileplume slid in and took the not very effective hit, then released an incredible SolarBeam that blasted Jolteon off her feet.

"Quick Attack!" commanded Mary "Double Kick! Thunderbolt!

"Ice Beam!" ordered Gerald and Dewgong's speed took us by surprise as Meowth was caught full on and blasted away. Jolteon touched ground for an instant and then half a second later was slamming into Vileplume, rising into the air while spinning around to plant both feet in Vileplume's head. Still in midair Jolteon launched a final Thunderbolt, knocking Vileplume out. _Woah._

"Gengar!" called Morgan "Shadow Ball!" While quick on the attack, Dewgong's mobility left something to be desired. The attack struck home, but Dewgong responded instantly with an Ice Beam.

"Quick Attack to Meowth!" commanded Mary and I though frantically as Jolteon- er… _Zapdos_ pursued Meowth with blinding speed.

"Jump up and use Low Kick!" I commanded. Meowth leapt forward and slammed a foot into the leaping Zapdos- neither attack was effective and both were knocked out of the air.

"Now Mega Punch Dewgong" I commanded and Meowth sprang forward and delivered another punch to Dewgong's face. Before Dewgong could respond, Gengar struck with another Shadow Ball before a Thunderbolt blasted the Ghost Type. Meanwhile Meowth finished Dewgong off with another Mega Punch.

"Muk!" called Gerald now, but it was an ill-considered choice. Firstly, Muk's strongest asset was Attack, and his speed made it very hard to hit Meowth _or _Gengar, both very fast Pokémon. And secondly, Gengar himself was immune to Poison. Though that wasn't a problem any more, for another Thunderbolt took out the outmanoeuvred Gengar. Since attacking Muk physically would be inviting trouble, I assumed Morgan would choose Alakazam next, who could easily take care of Muk, so we pursued Zapdos instead.

"Mega Punch!" I shouted. Meowth sprang forward.

"Quick Attack!" countered Mary, Jolteon leapt aside and the game of cat and… well, cat, began.

"Alakazam! Psychic!" commanded Morgan. Alakazam pointed towards Muk, automatically deflected a Sludge Bomb and Muk rose into the air before jerking as though struck from colossal impacts.

Gerald called his last Pokémon: "Victreebel!" Morgan smirked.

"Psychic!" he shouted, and a pulse of Psychic energy blasted Victreebel back.

"Leech Life!" commanded Gerald, and Alakazam was seeded, tiny bolts of energy shooting towards Vileplume and revitalizing the plant Pokémon.

"Psychic again!"

"Synthesis!"

"Recover! Future Sight! Psychic!" before the final Psychic could be completed, two vines struck Alakazam and pulled her towards Victreebel's open mouth.

"Teleport!' commanded Morgan and Alakazam escaped unharmed although a vine struck her immediately as Victreebel executed a windmilling Vine Whip technique.

"Pin it down!" I commanded. Meowth launched a jump with perfect timing, flipping to land, catlike, precisely on Victreebel's vine, pinning him to the ground.

"Thunderbolt that Meowth!" shouted Mary, but Alakazam helpfully deflected the lightning attack and for good measure hurled Zapdos into Victreebel.

"Mega Punch!" I commanded. Zapdos leapt out of the way and Meowth wiped Victreebel out.

"Pin Missile!" ordered Mary and Zapdos launched a deadly wave of Bug type needles that were so effective they instantly took Alakazam out.

Both Morgan and Gerald were out; Mary and I were still on our first Pokémon. And neither had broken a sweat.

The game began- the two agile, fast, powerful predators with boundless energy and stamina commenced their private duel. Evolutionary power did not aid Zapdos- _actual Zapdos don't evolve_- I chuckled to myself, as Meowth possessed incredible power that had to was hereditary, I presumed. For ten whole minutes the two traded attacks, all superficial blows, although Meowth's punches began to lack their, well, punch, and Zapdos would stumble if she tried to leap the second she touched ground.

"Quick Attack! Try for a midair strike!" commanded Mary. She had not been using this technique as Jolteon had begun to have trouble with landing, so it caught Meowth by surprise.

"Low Kick!" I commanded desperately, and Meowth successfully executed a midair kick to the chest.

The two landed; balance failed Zapdos, but not Meowth.

"Mega Punch!" I commanded and Meowth launched a final attack with all her power. Mary recalled her defeated Pokémon- we had won.

After Mary brought out a Sceptile I recalled my Meowth and chose Ninetales.

"Oh crap," muttered Mary. I nodded.

"Flamethrower!"

"Detect!"

"Damn it!" I shouted Sceptile crossed her arms, there was a flash of light and the fire dissipated. "Again! The bastard's ours!"

"Slam!" like Zapdos, Sceptile had great speed, but I hadn't seen anything in that Jolteon's league before, not even Giovanni's Mewtwo. Ninetales used a simple Iron Tail technique to counter physically, then unleashed a tornado of flame that destroyed Sceptile instantly.

"Dragonair!" Mary called now. "Slam!" Dragonair's speed was not quite phenomenal but her fluidity of movement was- she seemed to melt instantly into a moving position before using conventional speed to cross the distance. Her attack bore a resemblance to a spinning kick- her tail whipped around, smacking Ninetales across the face and sending him skidding into the ground. Ninetales _growled_, and Dragonair stumbled.

"Blast Burn!" I commended, and Dragonair was wiped out instantly by an incendiary orb of flame.

"Sceptile was your starter, correct?" I asked Mary.

"Yes, and Ninetales yours?" she asked. I confirmed this. "I thought I'd chosen well, made the right… I didn't expect _your _starter to offset mine."

"It was just bad luck," I replied "you chose well." Mary smiled.

"Thanks." I looked over and saw that both Morgan and Gerald were pretending to be asleep, snoring with their heads on rocks, because we had been battling far after their Pokémon lost. _Oh well, just proves that we're superior_.

-----

We came upon an arch at the end of the garden, leading to what looked like a larger version of Lavender Town- i.e. an old fashioned town.

"Hey trainers," called a woman from a counter inside the arch "you gotta register here." We walked over to the counters.

"Just give me your name and present your Pokémon and I'll give you your pass," she told us. Morgan unclipped his six Poké Balls and Great Balls.

"What about the ones I caught in Victory Road?" he asked.

"Just the six you intend to battle with," she replied, scanning the six Pokémon's balls and handing them back to him. "Name?"

"So these six are the only ones I can use in the battles now?"

"Uh huh. Name?"

"Uh, Morgan," Morgan replied.

"You got a last name, kid?"

"Yeah, Malkey. No, 'E' 'Y'. Yep, that's it."

"'K', here's your pass. You?"

I handed the woman my Poké Balls.

"Name?"

"Joshua Miller. Actually, can that say Josh? Yeah, thanks."

"Okay, so the Pokémon League starts in twenty five days. You fight four field battles- they're just normal battles in specialised arenas, and then two battles- or more or less you know, not exactly two hundred and fifty-six trainers arrive, of course."

"And then the final four fight the Elite Four," Morgan asked.

"Yep," the woman replied, pleased that we'd understood.

She handed me my credit card sized pass and I studied it. On the front was 'Josh Miller', with an inch square photo, and on the back was a small map of Indigo Plateau. South of us was the gardens, Victory Road and Training Ground Number One. North was the village, with shops and accommodation for the trainers, as well as Training Ground Numbers Two and Three, the Indigo Stadium, Elite Four Path and the Arenas of Ice, Water, Grass and Rock. Further North was a small secondary plateau with Training Ground Number Four.

"Where to first?" I asked. Morgan looked at me squarely.

"Can we eat?"

* * *

Sorry, couldn't resist the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references.


	6. Chapter 6: The Pokémon League Commences

**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 6 the Pokémon League Commences

Three weeks and four days on, we had sampled all the food, been sorted into rooms with Gerald and some other guy who was always training and whose name we never actually learned, and trained at all four training grounds: the open field of Number One; the Pokémon Gym like practice arena of Number Two; the actual Gym like street block sized Number Three and the secluded and strongest wild Pokémon in Kanto plagued Number Four, which was where we were now- Ninetales testing his stamina by repulsing constant attacks from Kanto's only flock of wild Fearow. After Ninetales' half strength Flamethrowers had fended off nearly a hundred of them, they gave up and wheeled away.

Suddenly a voice- the official announcing voice guy person thing- boomed: 'attention all competitors and spectators, the opening ceremony of the Pokémon League will begin in thirty minutes. Repeat: attention all competitors and spectators, the opening ceremony of the Pokémon League will begin in thirty minutes.' Morgan, the rest of the trainers up here and I glanced at each other, then hastily reached for our Flying types as we were two hours journey from the end of the village.

We arrived outside the circular stone arena with precious little time to spare and entered through an arch, where a man handed us our seat numbers.

Indigo Stadium was damn huge- a coliseum like behemoth that housed struggles for glory and fame, and stuff. Rows of escalating seats rose, as escalating things tend to do, and in the centre was a beaten earth field.

"Row seventy-two A," I muttered, then scanned upward to where roman numerals inscribed CXXII, and a piece of plastic read '72'.We made our way up and sat down. How lucky I was to be _right_ next to this massive television screen. There were three other televisions, and conveniently I had a perfect view of the one opposite us. A man walked onto the field, holding a wireless mike. Unfortunately…

'Ladies and gentlemen,' boomed his voice, and I breathed a sigh of relief when it emanated from a speaker in the roof and not a foot from my ear. 'The seventeenth Pokémon League championship is about to begin…' as he spoke, two green Machamp towed out a platform on wheels sitting on which was a deep bowl filled with wood probably soaked in resin. Then a tall Rapidash trotted out.

'… And here to light the flame of Moltres is the winner of this year's Blazing Pokémon Race!' The Rapidash used a small Ember attack and at once the bowl was aflame with leaping, crackling fire. Cheers and applause began and we joined in.

'And the flame of Moltres has been lit! The first battle of our young competitors is at noon tomorrow. And now to make the opening declaration is the man who needs no introduction other than the phrase 'needs no introduction' and the following' there was an appreciative laugh 'the inventor of the Pokémon Storage System, here's Bill!"

What followed was half an hour of speechmaking from various people, followed by the events apparently anticipated greatly: the exhibition battles, mainly featuring the Elite Four, who made a speech as a group earlier on and now stood by the flame.

'We have a challenger not participating in the Pokémon League, he did very well in is day, making it to the sixth round in his final journey, Mr. Wesley Morrison!'

A small middle aged man, trembling with nervousness walked through the ceremonial arch, looking dazed at the stadium. Then he pointed towards someone in the Elite Four.

"I challenge you, Lorelei of the Elite Four!" he proclaimed. The woman at the end of the line slowly walked towards the other side of the arena, and the announcer gestured to the challenger to move aside as four metal beams slid out of the walls towards the centre, creating an 'X' with the flame of Moltres at its centre. The Machamp hooked them to the flame of Moltres, and as the beams rose, so did the flame until it rested halfway up the stadium, still in the centre. The beams locked into place and immediately secondary restraints were applied to the flame.

The arena floor was empty but for the two in the centre, the announcer, the Elite Four and the other speechmakers. Lorelei unclipped a Poké Ball from her belt and held it high before tossing it out. Her choice was a large, fierce looking Dewgong.

"This is my first of three Pokémon," she proclaimed, walking towards the wall until she found her place. The challenger frantically back-pedalled, until he was also standing inside a chalked rectangle. Then a grille shot up out of the ground in front of them, and the ground rose revealing podiums underneath. They rose until they were perhaps ten feet in the air, and Mr. Morrison chose his first Pokémon.

"Machamp!" he called, releasing a huge muscled Pokémon. "Use Karate Chop!" Machamp, showing impressive speed, leapt forward, arm held behind his head for a strike. _Now, let's see the Elite Four in action_.

"Headbutt!" commanded Lorelei and Dewgong bared her head before flopping forward with surprising speed, striking Machamp directly in his stomach. Dewgong's power was such that although she struck but half a second earlier, Machamp's attack was cut in power dramatically, and Dewgong received a nevertheless powerful strike to her body.

"Ice Beam." A beam of intense icy energy lifted Machamp high into the air and turned slowly before crashing down to earth. I winced. Machamp was nearly proclaimed knocked out, but valiantly struggled up. Even Lorelei was surprised.

"Focus Energy," he commanded, and Machamp stood still, letting the power fill his body.

"Done?" Lorelei enquired, and Mr. Morrison was unnerved.

"Cross Chop!" he said firmly.

"Sheer Cold," Lorelei said firmly. Machamp sprang forward, all four arms crossed to unleash a set of powerful physical attacks but Dewgong sent forth a wave of incredible cold. Machamp was caught full on and stopped completely, defeated instantly.

"Dewgong must be very high-levelled," I muttered "to use a one hit KO that effectively."

Mr. Morrison's next Pokémon fared much better, a powerful Alakazam that used Teleport and Psychic repeatedly to strike quickly without warning and then disappear. Dewgong was very quick on the retaliation and backed herself up against a wall, loosing Ice Beams repeatedly and forcing Alakazam to become exhausted and still keep moving.

Then another Sheer Cold ended the bout. The stadium waited for Mr. Morrison's last Pokémon. "Mew!" he didn't scream, and "eat your opponent!" he didn't command.

"What's so funny?" Morgan whispered as Mr. Morrison released a Raichu.

"Nothing," I replied, chuckling. Mr. Morrison commanded a Thunderbolt attack that slammed Dewgong into the stadium wall.

Mr. Morrison smirked. His Raichu's speed seemed to be what could undo Lorelei's power and strategy.

"Cloyster!" called Lorelei, and summoned a wicked looking creature that concealed itself inside a near impenetrable shell. "Pin Missile!" Cloyster released dozens of tiny needles at an incredible rate, but Raichu didn't move.

"Light Screen," commanded Mr. Morrison smugly and Raichu raised a shimmering shield upon which dozens of the needles bounced off, powerful as they were barely making an impact. "Now Thunder!" Raichu's cheeks crackled- there was a blinding flash of light accompanied by a deafening boom, and Cloyster was lying on his side on the other side of the arena.

'I don't think anyone saw that coming!' boomed the announcer's voice 'Cloyster caught that blast full on and- no, I don't believe it, he's getting up!' It was true- in a staggering display that provoked cheering aplenty Cloyster turned his body upwards again. This was even more phenomenal due to Thunder's power, Raichu's Special Attack, his same type bonus and Cloyster's low Special Defence. Then again, the attack's accuracy had been pretty off, and Cloyster had been half shielded. _Incredible_, I thought, then _Ampharos could win_.

"Thunderbolt! Get in close!"

"Withdraw!" Cloyster retreated inside his shell and the Thunderbolt bounced off, leaving only a slight scorch mark. Raichu was now sprinting forward.

"Clamp!" commanded Lorelei.

"Slam!" countered Mr. Morrison.

"Withdraw!" shrieked Lorelei. Cloyster opened his shell to attack but Raichu bounced forward, Cloyster's shell deflecting Raichu as he attacked with the left side of his body, the impact slamming Cloyster into the wall.

"Again!" commanded Mr. Morrison and Raichu flipped in midair, bringing his tail down with surprising force. Raichu struck the top of Cloyster's shell, spinning the bottom into the ground. Cloyster was dazed, inner body vulnerable. "Now Thunderbolt," he said quietly, and Raichu defeated his opponent with a final lightning attack.

"Charge!" he said, and now huge bolts leapt from Raichu's cheeks. The mouse Pokémon acquired a yellow glow as he stored and built his power.

"Lapras!" called Lorelei "Confuse Ray!"

"THUNDER!" shouted Mr. Morrison. Lapras tried to confuse her opponent but to no avail- the beautiful rare Pokémon caught the full blast and was taken out instantly. The stadium swelled with applause as both trainers recalled their Pokémon and shook hands. Mr. Morrison had tears in his eyes- he had no doubt been waiting for this his entire life. Morgan and I cheered along with the rest whole-heartedly.

_So this is what the Pokémon League really is_.

"Congratulations, Mr. Wesley Morrison. Next of our exhibition matches, after losing last year's bout with Agatha, Bruno has the option of rechallenging her or challenging another member…"

*

"Wow," said Morgan "I'd thought myself on like a par with that guy, but when Bruno beat Lorelei like that, I don't think I'd last very long in the Elite Four at all!"

"And Agatha beat him," I added.

"Yeah and did you see how that Lance guy just stood there?" I stopped suddenly. Something had been bugging me this whole time, and I knew what it was.

"He was at the café in Pewter!" I exclaimed "he was talking to some guy with a white moustache! And then some other chick joined them!"

"Hey yeah, he was impressed with Dratini's Twister attack! I remember now! I wonder who the other two were."

"Dunno. And did you see those green Machamp? How awesome were they?"

"Yeah, I think the technical term is 'shiny'."

"That's odd."

"I know, but there you go…"

"Hey guys!" called a voice. Morgan and I both turned round. It was Tanya, walking alone the narrow path that led to Training Ground Number Four. "I picked up a few of these," she said, pressing large pamphlets into both our hands.

"What are these?" Morgan asked, hefting one.

"It's a complete program of the tournament matchups," I replied. Morgan glanced at me, surprised.

"How'd you know that?" he asked. I help up the pamphlet. The heading read 'Complete Program of Tournament Matchups'.

"Anyway," said Tanya, smiling "if you unfold it, you can see that we're battling each other in the fifth round. Assuming we make it that far."

"Who do I battle?" I asked eagerly.

"You?" Tanya thought about it. "You fight that girl we met in the Underground Path, Lindsay."

"Yes, _met_."

"But get this! Steph, in the sixth round, will fight Zackery Hartwell! If she lasts to that round, that is."

"That guy with the Arcanine?" I said, but I knew perfectly well who Zack was. I myself had a burning desire to fight him, after my first loss and him subsequently refusing my offers for a rematch.

"Yes, the guy with the Arcanine," Tanya said. "He also fights with… a Dewgong, a Golem, a Pidgeot, a Crobat and a Hypno."

"It says all that, too?"

"Nah, it says that on this chart I have here. It's unofficial data, though."

"Where do you get all this stuff?" Morgan asked incredulously. Tanya smiled.

"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out," she said sweetly. "Actually, one of the League examiners said I was cute, and I persuaded him to give me a list of the Pokémon belonging to you two and Zack, you know, since he's supposed to be like the most dangerous guy Steph battles."

"So you know what I have?" asked Morgan.

"Hold on a minute, you're _thirteen_," I exclaimed, "should he really-"

"Sure," Tanya replied to Morgan "Alakazam, Vileplume, Kingler, Jynx, Magneton and Gengar."

"And Josh?" he asked.

"Fearow, Ampharos, Meowth, Vileplume, Poliwrath, and Ninetales," Tanya and I both said at once, though in a different order of course. Tanya giggled.

'Joshua Miller and Lindsay Hartwell to the Grass Arena,' called the P.A. and I felt nervous for the first time. 'I repeat: Joshua Miller and Lindsay Hartwell to the Grass Arena…' I smiled at Morgan and Tanya.

"It begins."


	7. Chapter 7: Kanto Pkmn League Part 1

New chapter is up, clearly. Enjoy or something.

* * *

**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 7 Kanto Pokémon League Challenge Part 1

Fearow and I touched down outside the Indigo Stadium and I recalled him. Then I looked around and spotted the Grass Arena- not quite an Indigo Stadium in miniature- it was rectangular with needle shaped sculpture things on the corners. I hurried over there and a man in Pokémon League uniform spotted me and waved me over to him.

"Hi," I said "I'm supposed to be battling here, do you know-"

"Challenger Josh?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Come with me. For future reference, you enter through the end which is coloured- on the map in your room- a certain colour that matches your League Pass badge. You swipe it every day?"

"Yeah," I replied- the first time I went to the Pokémon Centre, they told me to give them my card to update after the opening ceremony. The pointy bubble thing around my name was red when I got it back, so I assumed the map in the room would have a section of the Grass Arena painted red. _Damn that's confusing_.

He led me to a door separate to the main one, and showed me through it, before running back out. I walked through, where a nurse asked for my Pokémon. I handed over the Poké Balls and she healed them quickly, then ushered me through a tunnel. My footsteps echoed off the walls and all the nervousness I had ever felt met itself from the past, grouped together and tenfolded itself.

_Why do I have to fight someone as good as Lindsay? For my very first match shouldn't I have to battle someone weaker? This sucks._

The last step took me into the bright dazzling sunlight of the Grass Arena, which was, staggeringly, covered in grass. The sun would probably do nothing but help Vileplume and Ninetales. I also intended to start with a Fearow to give me the edge over Bug and Grass types. _This is good, _I thought. I looked around, noting the escalating rows of seats and four massive TV screens.

I stepped onto the podium, and couldn't help but grin. The initial nervousness was gone, replaced by irrepressible excitement. The commentator made his standard announcements, saying that both Lindsay and I had won our Gym battles with excellent results, and that we both used a broad range of types, a trait in good trainers. We also used a broad range of styles, from my Ninetales' speed coupled with Special Attack strength to my Vileplume's more defensive style. As the announcer mentioned Ninetales, I saw Lindsay, standing on the podium opposite mine smirk. I wondered whether she had modified her team to offset my starter.

_What was her starter Pokémon again? _I wondered as my podium rose. _Sandslash, that was it._ I realised that if I had structured my team differently, putting my Grass type Vileplume and Flying type Fearow later, I would be able to greater set myself up against Sandslash. That, though, was only if Lindsay used Sandslash- it was, after all weak against both the Pokémon expected in this arena, and those used well to counter those very types. But what if she expected _me _to use Pokémon to offset those types, and set herself up against those. But there was no point second guessing myself like this.

As I released Fearow, I discovered I had been wrong in assuming that it would have an advantage over the first chosen Pokémon, for Lindsay released a lean, powerful looking Charizard.

"Flamethrower!" shouted Lindsay.

"Duck!" I responded. Charizard unleashed a continuous burst of flames while Fearow dropped like a stone, snapping open his wings at the last second to pull out of the dive and shoot up.

"Fly!" I commanded and before Charizard could aim properly Fearow slammed his body into Charizard, knocking the draconic Fire type sideways while Fearow lazily rode the currents, climbing slowly.

'And the Charizard has produced an impressive spurt of flame-' the commentator had been saying 'oh, no wait- the Fearow has avoided the blast and is soaring- oh, we have a command for Fly, and the Fearow strikes before the Charizard can even aim again!'

This continued while we commanded our Pokémon, as Fearow struck numerous light blows. I realised then that if I concentrated on what the commentator was saying then I would never be able to concentrate.

"Land," said Lindsay suddenly and Charizard dropped out of the sky to land on his feet.

"Fly!" I commanded.

"Flamethrower!" shouted Lindsay and Charizard released a blast of flame that caused Fearow to wheel away, avoiding the attack. Repeatedly I gave the order to attack but Fearow was just as quickly forced to give up.

"Down!" I commanded, hoping Fearow would understand "now circle downward, staying as close to Charizard as you can." Fearow did just that, gliding on one wing and as he neared Charizard the Fire type couldn't keep up with the Flamethrower.

"Now Drill Peck!"

"Dragon Claw!" Fearow zoomed in and struck, but before he could escape Charizard's glowing paw swatted him out of the air and into the wall.

"Flamethrower!" shouted Lindsay and Charizard concentrated the beam of flame on Fearow.

"Get out of there!" I shouted.

"Flap your wings, pin it against the wall."

"Agility!" Fearow streaked off before Charizard could pin him down. "Drill Peck!" I added and Fearow struck again.

"Fly!" commanded Lindsay and Charizard leapt forward, snapping out his wings and with a beat lifting him into the air and slamming into Fearow, "now Blast Burn!"

Charizard launched a massive orb of flame that caught Fearow full on- with an explosion Fearow was catapulted, knocked out, directly at my podium and would have hit had the beam of my Poké Ball not caught him. I drew another Poké Ball.

"Vileplume!" This drew murmurs from the crowd, but I knew what I was doing. Lindsay chuckled.

'Oh, and Josh has chosen a Grass type to combat Charizard, this certainly is an interesting decision!'

"Flamethrower!" shouted Lindsay.

"Petal Dance barrier," I said smugly. Vileplume summoned a swarm of leaves that swirled, creating a surprisingly effective barrier against Charizard's flame attack "and draw in sunlight!" Vileplume kept his rate of leaves up and Charizard failed to penetrate the defence, even though it had taken a lot of stamina on Vileplume's part.

"Now release both attacks!" I commanded. The leaves surged like a tide, hurting and immobilising Charizard slightly. Charizard tried to fly away but the impressive beam of powerful compressed sunlight hit full on, taking Charizard out. Lindsay, shocked, recalled her Pokémon.

"Draw in more sunlight," I added.

'That was impressive!' exclaimed the commentator 'using a weaker strength move to defend against a Flamethrower, while drawing energy for a demolishing SolarBeam. Well done Josh.'

Meanwhile Lindsay looked pained, ruminating, no doubt thinking about which Pokémon to use. She took a deep breath and released a Golduck.

"Ice Beam!" she commanded.

"Petal Dance" I commanded. Again Vileplume summoned a swirling shield of leaves to block his opponent's attack, and again prevailed.

"Psychic!" Lindsay shouted. With a flick of her hand Golduck scattered the petals and then with an open hand blasted Vileplume backwards, the Psychic attack taking full advantage of Vileplume's Poison attributes.

"Sludge Bomb!" I shouted, "SolarBeam!" Vileplume's aim was good- Sludge Bomb hit and Golduck didn't quite manage to got out of the SolarBeam's way, though he avoid most of the damage, still though the battle had been tipped greatly in Vileplume's favour. Lindsay wouldn't go down that easily though.

"Hydro Pump!"

"Get out of the way! Sludge Bomb!" I said quickly. Vileplume evaded the attack but as his own struck Golduck adjusted Hydro Pump's direction, hitting Vileplume and knocking him out of the way. Golduck was by now struggling.

"Sludge Bomb! Petal Dance!" Golduck managed to avoid the first attack but Vileplume summoned leaves and even used grass from the field to create a surging attack that hit, battered and finished off Golduck.

'That was a great battle' exclaimed the commentator, 'Golduck put up a great fight but Vileplume was just too good. These two are obviously very good trainers, what a pity one has to lose so early in the tournament!'

Lindsay smiled and then grimaced at these words, then took a deep breath and released Sandslash.

'Now that is a well trained Pokémon!' the commentator exclaimed 'a large specimen with vicious claws, no doubt trained with love since this Pokémon was a mere Sandshrew!'

"Slash!" Lindsay commanded, and Sandslash leapt forward, claws bared.

"Dodge it!" I shouted "and draw in sunlight!" Vileplume leapt to the side a split second before Sandslash landed, claw shredding at thin air.

"Petal Dance! Hold it!" I shouted and Vileplume sent a wave of leaves and grass to envelop the surprised Sandslash.

"Rapid Spin!" commanded Lindsay and Sandslash span in a tight circle, shredding most of the leaves in two.

"Release that SolarBeam!" I shouted.

"Dig!" yelled Lindsay frantically. Sandslash wasn't fast enough to avoid an attack made of compressed sunlight and was caught halfway into the earth when Vileplume released the SolarBeam and it struck a millisecond later, tearing Sandslash out of the ground and spinning into the air. I ordered the attack early because I feared precisely what nearly happened.

Sandslash landed, looking woozy.

"Sleep Powder!" I shouted and the attack was good, Sandslash crumpled. Scarcely believing this, I ordered a SolarBeam, and then suggested a Sludge Bomb directly before releasing the attack. Sandslash awoke. The Sludge Bomb hit but then the shrew Pokémon dove out of the way. Vileplume had no time to readjust his aim and was already committed to attacking- the SolarBeam ploughed a massive hole in the field, spattering loam everywhere.

"Dig!" commanded Lindsay, and Sandslash leapt back into the hole. Then, sooner than I would have believed possible, Sandslash burst out of the earth, colliding with Vileplume, lifting him into the air. "Again!" shouted Lindsay.

Suddenly I was struck by inspiration "Land as lightly as you can and hit the ground next to you with Petal Dance." Vileplume understood, landing lightly and then whipping a Petal Dance attack which into the ground. My subterfuge worked, Sandslash believed her opponent was where he was not and burst upward into the middle of a swarm of floating leaves and grasses.

"Rapid Spin!" shouted Lindsay "Slash!" Just as the Petal Dance attacked Sandslash span himself in the air, shredding them all and neutralising the attack, then landed and bounced toward Vileplume, and with a vicious swipe of his claws defeated his opponent.

"Ninetales!" I called, releasing my beautiful Fire type. "Flamethrower!" From Ninetales' mouth burst a massive plume of flame, catching Sandslash in the middle of it.

"Dig!" shouted Lindsay as the commentator remarked on Ninetales extremely impressive firepower and lack of exertion. Sandslash submerged herself and Ninetales cut off the attack instantly. I gave the command to retreat and Ninetales was off, sprinting off around the edge of the arena. He put his head to the ground and listened, then readjusted his course.

After this happened twice more Lindsay realised that this would never work- Sandslash could not catch with my Pokémon and she told Sandslash to surface.

"Flamethrower!" I commanded and instantly Ninetales released an inferno of flame that caught Sandslash in its centre.

"Earthquake!" shouted Lindsay and the arena itself began to quake, the forces concentrated on Ninetales, who was shaken to the ground and battered by the power of the attack. "Now Dig!" Ninetales struggled up, but Sandslash surfaced and struck, lifting the two of them high into the air, revolving slowly from the force.

"Flamethrower!" I shouted. Ninetales released a short blast of fire before he was turned away from Sandslash by the force of the collision hurting Sandslash.

"There's only one way to finish that Pokémon off before you land!" I warned "Blast Burn!"

As soon as Sandslash was again in his vision Ninetales released a huge orb of flame that struck Sandslash. There was an incredible explosion and Sandslash was blasted directly into the ground, actually creating a crater in which the defeated Pokémon lay.

'And we have a winner!' the commentator said 'in one of our best matches so far challenger Josh has prevailed thanks to a well executed series of midair moves. Congratulations!'

The stadium erupted with cheers, and I felt almost as if I was floating, lifted upwards by the incredible happiness. I had won! And I'd really earned this victory; it had been against a really good trainer. I don't recall ever having felt so proud. The crowd's cheers lifted me to a giddy high as I smiled and hesitantly waved.

'We thank our two contestants, and the next pair of young trainers is Adrian Sykes and Sue Green!'

I took that as the cue to leave, and after my Pokémon were healed I walked out of the tent. I'd meet up with Morgan, assuming he was still at Training Ground Number Four, and continue training.

"Hey Josh!" said a voice from behind me. Lindsay was hurrying towards me. "I just wanted to say, great battle, and no hard feelings whatsoever."

"That's great," I exclaimed "thank you very much, I appreciate that." Lindsay held out a hand, and I shook it firmly, smiling. "So has Zack battled yet at all?"

"I don't- no, he hasn't," she said firmly "he's battling tomorrow, I think."

"Cool. Well, I'll see you around, I guess." Lindsay smiled.

"Yeah, see you!" She waved and hurried off.

*

'Ladies and Gentlemen, the one hundred and fourth battle of the Pokémon League competition will begin in the Water Arena in twenty minutes! Could Morgan Malkey and Lachlan Mills make their way to the Water Arena now! I repeat; could Morgan Malkey and Lachlan Mills make their way to the Water Arena now!'

I was, luckily, restoring my Pokémon after beating some guy in Training Ground Number Two who challenged me to a battle, bragging about how good he was, and so I could make it to the Water Arena fairly quickly. The stadium wasn't anywhere near full, the seats, that is- the arena itself was full of water with a few floating rubber mats- and as I scanned the seats I spotted someone waving to me. It was my sister, with Tanya sitting next to her. I made my way to the other side of the arena and arrived, out of breath.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked.

"Tanya wanted to see Morgan," replied Steph.

"Battle," added Tanya "I wanted to see his battle."

"Of course," said Steph exaggeratedly, giving me a huge wink. Tanya whacked her over the back of the head with an open palm. Steph giggled.

"Oh, so you like Morgan now, do you?" I said annoyingly.

"Shut up," said Tanya. I did so reluctantly as Morgan emerged from his tunnel and his opponent did the same. The two walked onto what looked like deep water but was actually proven to be a thin layer above the podiums, which rose to their usual height, casting cascades into the water below. The Water Arena commentator introduced the two as good, solid Pokémon battlers, that Lachlan had only lost once against a Gym Leader, that Morgan had never.

"Hey Josh," Steph said "you want a battle?"

"Nah," I replied "we'll either battle for the competition or after it ends, not during."

"Oh, come on…"

"Vaporeon!" called Lachlan through the speakers.

"Kingler!" called Morgan. The crab Pokémon treaded water while Vaporeon bobbed, head barely visible as he was mostly submerged.

"Hydro Pump!" shouted Lachlan and Vaporeon released a jet of high pressured water. Kingler crossed both claws and took the attack full on, being forced backwards but emerging unharmed.

"Vaporeon must be focusing on accuracy, not power with that attack," I muttered to Steph.

"Fine! Take this then!" yelled Lachlan "Dragon Pulse!" Vaporeon gathered an orb of purplish light in his mouth and fired a pulsing beam that struck Kingler painfully.

"Vicegrip!" shouted Morgan, and Kingler scuttled forward, submerging just in time to avoid another Dragon Pulse. His large claw shot out and clutched Vaporeon in a powerful grip. Try as he could, Vaporeon could not struggle free from Kingler's tightening grip.

"Dragon Pulse!"

"Crabhammer!" Vaporeon gathered light but Kingler struck first, a heavy blow that send Vaporeon downwards and out of view.

The screen cut to an underwater camera showing Vaporeon hitting the pool floor and bouncing upwards before drifting downward again. The commentator announced Kingler's victory and soon announced a second after Kingler defeated in style Lachlan's Electabuzz, tackling the Electric type off of her mat and into Kingler's own territory, where Kingler finished the match off.

Electabuzz had, however, dealt a powerful Thunderbolt and so Morgan recalled his Kingler to face Lachlan's last Pokémon with his second.

"Morgan's doing pretty well," I remarked.

"Yeah, better than when he last battled me," added Tanya. "He's kicking ass."

"What a surprise to hear you use 'Morgan' and 'ass' in the same sentence," exclaimed Steph, grinning. Tanya scowled, faintly embarrassed. Rather than join in, however, I decided to watch the match. Morgan's Magneton was hovering above the water, facing a massive Gyarados.

"Thunderbolt!" commanded Morgan.

"Hyper Beam!" shouted Lachlan. Magneton being a Steel type, this would do little damage but it was intended, I gathered, to conduct the Thunderbolt. Magneton's power exceeded that of Gyarados though and Gyarados was struck, falling into the water with an almighty splash.

"Finish it off!" shouted Morgan, and Magneton unleashed another deadly bolt that indeed finished off its opponent.

We joined in the enthusiastic applause as the commentator announced his victory.

"Have you two been in any battles so far?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Tanya "it was a pretty close match, but we beat the guy, even though Granbull had to fight a Hitmonchan in the last battle."

"And I've got my first battle tomorrow," added Steph "I'm going to win, by the way."

"That wouldn't surprise me," I said truthfully.

The next day Steph won her battle, and the first round concluded. Later that day, after healing my Pokémon, I received my League Pass to find it updated, with a blue bubble around my name.

"Your next battle is in three days," the nurse informed me "at ten past three, approximately, with Jim Bells."

"Thanks," I replied. _I'm looking forward to it_, I thought with a smile.

* * *

Just so you know, I won't be including every battle, just the important or specially exciting ones.


	8. Chapter 8: Kanto Pkmn League Part 2

**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 8 the Pokémon League Challenge Part 2

"Ice Beam!" commanded Morgan and his Pokémon responded, finishing her weakened opponent off. The cheers exploded and I gave three polite claps. It was a thing I was doing. A 'one of those things' thing.

'Incredible! Jynx was barely hurt and yet she managed to defeat Cyril's powerful Typhlosion! What a victory!' _Yeah, and it's even more amazing because the Pokémon had _Morgan _for a trainer_, I joked to myself.

Later, when we met up outside the Pokémon Centre, we started our customary argument.

"Nuh uh, my victory was heaps better than yours."

"No. Way. Yours was all: 'oh, I have a type advantage. Now I have another one. This is easy. You know, I really don't deserve to win'-"

"So you _admit_ it-"

"'And Morgan's so much better at Pokémon battling than I am, he's so victimised my fate, innocent before the chance that favours me, his idiot friend…' are you okay, loser?" I had deliberately fallen over onto the dirt road, doing nothing to stop myself and hitting the ground hard. I ended up scraping the skin on my face to the blood. It was worth it though.

"Sorry, I think I had a mild stroke when you said I said you were innocent."

"Ah, screw you."

We two were in the third round of the Pokémon League now that Morgan had beaten Cyril, and we were arguing over which of our victories displayed greater skill. Desire to prove Morgan wrong aside, I was better. Really.

Morgan's next battle- his third- was against a trainer from the Pokémon League that existed basically to even up numbers: called an Eliminator for some reason.

'Eliminator Dirk vs. Morgan Malkey. Begin!' came the announcement that day as the two faced each other in their podiums above the Rock Arena. Morgan was thirteen with blond hair and four or five month's experience as a trainer. Eliminator Dirk was about forty with dark pointy hair and most of his life's worth of experience as a trainer. Mismatched, perhaps, but Morgan was, irritatingly, quite good.

Both released their Pokémon at the same time- Morgan: "Magneton!" and Dirk: "Houndoom!"

Morgan blanched; Houndoom had a considerable advantage over Magneton.

"Flamethrower!"

"Avoid! Thunderbolt!" Houndoom released a plume of flame that swelled but just as quickly Magneton whipped upward, revolving before releasing a Thunderbolt that struck Houndoom dead on. Dirk narrowed his eyes.

"Faint Attack!" he said harshly. Houndoom leapt with blinding speed, connecting solidly with Magneton. "Now hold Magneton and use a Flamethrower!" Houndoom's tail whipped forward and held Magneton still, the slight extra weight dragging Magneton down through the air. Houndoom opened his jaws wide and a tongue of flame engulfed Magneton.

_Houndoom knows he has the advantage so he's conserving energy by not using heaps of power_, I realised, impressed by the Pokémon's restraint. Then Morgan gave his command. _Bad move, Houndoom_.

Magneton plummeted down through the air in response to Morgan's command and ploughed straight into the ground.

'Wow!' exclaimed the commentator 'the highly tactical Eliminator has been tactically equalled by Challenger Morgan in very adverse circumstances! The trainer's Magneton rotated so that Houndoom would strike the ground fully, and yet Houndoom threw his weight to achieve the same thing. And now the dust settles…' he continued with an air of eeriness.

"Thunderbolt!" shouted Morgan. Magneton zoomed upward, releasing a truly massive Thunderbolt into the crater caused by the impact. There was a howl of pain, then silence. _Of course a Magneton, being Steel type, would fare much better against that impact than Houndoom would. Impressive, Morgan_.

The commentator repeated this- in substantially more words, of course. Dirk recalled his Pokémon.

"Now Dodrio!" he called "attack it with Uproar!" At once each of the tall Dodrio's heads set up a huge squawking. The noise was, however amplified beyond imagining and focused directly at Magneton. I nodded to myself. Probably Dirk's remaining Pokémon were not very effective against Magneton, and so a fast Pokémon with the power to do a lot of small damage was preferable to whatever he had left.

_Or maybe Dirk realised __that for Morgan the widest range of Pokémon types would have to include a certain Pokémon, and so he wanted to save his last for, well, last. Or _maybe… I stopped myself- second and third guessing myself like this was pointless. By a freak coincidence, however, I had been completely right.

"Thunderbolt!" commanded Morgan, but as I had expected, Dodrio was able to avoid it and use Uproar again. The sonic attack had the added bonus of disorienting Magneton as well, as after a short while Dodrio triumphed. Morgan recalled his Pokémon.

"Alakazam!" called Morgan, releasing his strongest fighter. "Psychic!" he commanded, and Dodrio leapt away, the Psychic a far closer miss than Magneton's attacks had been.

"Tri Attack!" shouted Dirk, and an intertwined beam of fire, ice and lighting struck Alakazam fully.

"Psychic!" commanded Morgan, and Alakazam extended a hand, catching Dodrio before she could move. Alakazam lifted the bird Pokémon into the air, then brought her down hard on the arena floor. Dodrio recoiled under a blow of energy and then Alakazam went to hurl her into the wall but she stopped his movement halfway through. After a second I realized she was paralysed.

"Tri Attack!" Dirk shouted, but Alakazam Teleported away instantly. Dirk smiled. "Tri Attack!" he shouted again, and instantly Alakazam Teleported away yet again. "Agility!" Dirk commanded "head straight at her!"

"Teleport!" shouted Morgan, worried now, for the more times Alakazam Teleported in a row, the more exhausted she became.

"Pursuit!" Dirk shouted, and just before Alakazam, struggling, disappeared Dodrio gathered an aura of darkness around her fierce head's beak and drove it forward.

Alakazam reappeared at the other side of the arena, and immediately fell, wounded heavily.

"Tri Attack!" commanded Dirk.

"Psychic!" shouted Morgan desperately. With a huge effort, Alakazam turned the attack back on itself and with a final effort finished the bird Pokémon off. "Recover!"

With a Poké Ball in each hand and two fluid movements Dirk recalled Dodrio and sent out his last; "Jolteon! Thunder!"

Had Alakazam's species the ability to blanch, Alakazam would not have had time to do so before the massive Thunder lifted her out of the battle. Morgan paled. Defence had never been any Alakazam's strong suit but clearly Jolteon possessed no small amount of strength. Then Morgan scowled. He recalled Alakazam.

"Vileplume!" he shouted, and Dirk's eyes narrowed.

"Quick Attack!" Jolteon moved like lighting, and in the blink of an eye she was in the same position, Vileplume swaying slightly in hers.

"Charge a SolarBeam!" Morgan commanded.

"Thunder!" Vileplume caught the attack heavily, a massive lightning blast that slammed her backwards. With these particular Pokémon it would come down to the next two moves, I was sure. Dirk grinned.

"Pin Missile!" he shouted.

"Petal Dance!" responded Morgan smugly, and it was over. The deadly needles were largely blocked by the swirling wall of leaves, though a few punched through and struck Vileplume. And then it ended. Vileplume released the leaves and like a surging tide they struck Jolteon. Finally the charged SolarBeam was unleashed and Jolteon was demolished instantly.

'What a _blistering _fast battle that was!' exclaimed the commentator, reassuring viewers that it wasn't over too fast 'both Pokémon were exceptional with their techniques but Vileplume came out on top!'

_I would have done exactly that,_ I thought smugly _but no needles would have gotten through and Jolteon would have had far less of a chance, none at all in fact_. Still, shocking myself I managed to be happy for Morgan. What was wrong with me?

-----

Two days past Morgan's third battle and one past his fourth, my fourth was now impending. Over the aforementioned two days all that had been discussed between Morgan, Tanya and Steph was battling, and I had gone the longest without a cause for bragging. But as I walked down the path that led to the exterior of the Rock Arena, nervousness and excitement mingled within me. According to her battle record, Brittany had never gotten past her second Pokémon. Her strongest appeared to be Scyther, and the other team members she had used were Pidgeot, Primeape, Cacturne and Grumpig.

I emerged from the tunnel, shielding my eyes briefly from the sun. I walked forward onto the podium. About ten seconds later Brittany walked forward onto hers and we began to rise. When the podiums stopped we were level. Brittany looked coolly at me, brushing a blond curl out of her face. Eventually she gave a smile, which I returned.

After the commentator had finished introducing us and promising the audience a great battle, we began.

"Scyther!" Brittany called.

"Vileplume!" I shouted "Sleep Powder!

"Blow it away! Wing Attack!" Scyther leapt forward before I had finished registering surprise at her choice of first Pokémon. The Bug/Fighting type span around quickly, scattering with his wings the cloud of sleep-inducing powder scattered by Vileplume. He landed and instantly sprang forward. His wing snapped out, smashing into Vileplume's side as Scyther zoomed past. Vileplume steadied himself.

"Again!"

"Petal Dance!" I shouted quickly. Up whipped a shield of leaves- Scyther's attack sliced into it but Vileplume fortified the barrier and the leaf shield bulged, pushing Scyther solidly away. "Sludge Bomb!" Scyther stumbled as he landed and the Sludge Bomb struck solidly, blasting Scyther sideways. My eyes momentarily met Brittany's, and I saw surprise and determination there.

"Slash!" Brittany shouted and Scyther leapt forward, rending the Petal Dance shield down the middle. "Again! From the left!"

With two neat hops Scyther attacked again, lightly.

"Attack!" I shouted suddenly and Vileplume forced Scyther back as the Petal Dance surged forward, then just as quickly returned to Vileplume.

"Silver Wind! Wing Attack!" shouted Brittany and twin auras of silver gathered around Scyther's scythes. With a spin and a leap Scyther halved the distance between the two combatants and released a powerful blast of wind that scattered the leaves, leaving Vileplume wide open.

"Sludge Bomb!" I commanded but Scyther leapt high and then flapped his wings once, pushing him down, straight on target. Vileplume tried to escape but the Wing Attack struck and the super effective attack was too much for him. I recalled Vileplume.

"Meowth!" I shouted. Brittany raised her eyebrows at me. The message was clear. I smiled.

"Slash!" Brittany commanded. Scyther sprang forward.

"Duck! And…Low Kick!" The Meowth avoided the Slash and as soon as Scyther landed swiped her foot forward, but Scyther jumped into the air. "Now Mega Punch!" Scyther had barely risen off the ground when Mega Punch struck. Brittany's eyes widened as- with no traction- Scyther was sent flying backwards.

"Faint Attack!" I shouted.

"Agility!" Brittany commanded at the same time. "Wing Attack!" Upon reflection it was a bad move. The two Pokémon struck each other and I underestimated Scyther's ability to recover; within an instant, it seemed, he had struck with a Wing Attack.

"Fly up!" Brittany shouted.

"Jump and Low Kick!" I commanded, feeling inwardly smug that she wasn't confident about mêlée combat between our Pokémon. Meowth leapt up, moving faster than Scyther and then turned in midair to smash her foot into Scyther's face. The Bug/Flying type struck the earth heavily, defeated. Brittany blanched. Now we were on even footing, but it was her starter Pokémon that had been defeated, even though Meowth had taken a blow and her next Pokémon was fresh.

"Primeape!" Brittany called "Cross Chop!"

"Avoid!" I responded "now Mega Punch!" Meowth threw a hard left into Primeape's body, but the Fighting type suffered little damage.

"Cross Chop!" Brittany commanded. Primeape crossed his arms and brought them both down, striking Meowth's small body with the blades of both his open palms. Immediately Meowth responded with an uppercut to the ribs, winding Primeape.

"Mega Punch!" I shouted and Meowth's fist whipped through the air in a powerful right hook. With surprising muscle power the blow connected, and Meowth followed through, a great effort that slammed Primeape into the hard earth. Brittany's eyes widened, and so did mine to no large degree. The speed and conviction of the two blows were astounding.

Many blows were exchanged thereafter, but although Primeape was stronger, the majority of the attacks were Meowth's as she was faster. Moreover, the two powerful punches dealt at the start of the fray took their toll; the Fighting type was defeated.

Brittany was silent for a few seconds after she recalled Primeape, and then she picked up the last Poké Ball from her belt and our eyes met. She was quietly confident, but I too had confidence.

"Kabutops!" she called. _Oh, of all the freaking Pokémon… Where did she even _get_ a Kabuto_?

"Faint Attack!" I shouted quickly. Meowth sprang forward and struck powerfully at the much taller creature with a fist of dark energy, who stumbled backward.

"Waterfall!" shouted Brittany. Kabutops charged forward suddenly with water streaming around his body and dealt Meowth a powerful blow. Meowth hit the ground hard, and even as I, concerned, went to recall her she leapt up and used Faint Attack again. Kabutops was shocked by the sudden display of resolve and responded with a Slash. Meowth again fell and this time I knew she was defeated. I recalled her. Again my eyes met Brittany's, and my own determination was mirrored there.

"Ninetales!" I called, and my fox Pokémon emerged. _Too bad I've prepared a counter measure for both Rock and Water types, _I thought. _Still, we're only neutral, they have the attack advantage. Better go all out. _"Iron tail!" I commanded.

"Waterfall!" Brittany countered. Ninetales instinctively stopped in his charge, instead spinning, striking out of Kabutops' range with the full extent of his nine tails. Kabutops received the heavy blow on his head and neck, and was thrown to the ground violently. "Hydro Pump!" she shouted frantically.

"Flamethrower," I said confidently, for firstly Kabutops' Special Attack was sucky at best and also because Ninetales' Flamethrower was intensely powerful. Fire met water, and not surprisingly steam ensued- lots of it. From Kabutops streamed a powerful torrent of water but from Ninetales erupted a constant stream of flame that met the water in the middle.

The steam rolled outward, obscuring vision instantly. A second later the steam stopped increasing and another second later Kabutops was hurled out of the steam cloud which dissipated to reveal an unharmed Ninetales.

I grinned.

"Blast Burn!" I shouted and Kabutops looked up to no doubt behold an advancing orb of flame. The orb detonated and Kabutops was blasted straight into the wall. Brittany's face fell as her Pokémon failed to get up, and wordlessly she recalled him.

I had failed to notice the commentator until he announced my victory.

'And Challenger Josh had prevailed! That is one seriously powerful Ninetales, folks! His firepower is truly immense! What a truly deserving victory Josh has attained, against so strong an opponent!'

_Well d__uh_, I thought. I almost expected him to say 'who writes these cue cards?'

-----

"Now how can you tell me that battle wasn't better than yours? There's no way you could have won that one, Morgan."


	9. Chapter 9: Tanya's Battle

Woah, did this end up longer than the average chapter. Well, they're fighting with five Pokémon now, and there's two battles. At any rate, enjoy.  
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**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 9 Tanya's Battle

"Hey Josh," came a voice. I turned around to see Steph walking towards me.

"Aw, son of a... we need to make a break for it, guys," I said to my Fearow and Poliwrath, who were sparring. Steph put a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey bro," she said.

"Oh, er, hi, sis... I said we need to take a break."

"Sure. Where's blondie?"

"You mean crap-for-brains? He's back in town, fighting other trainers. How'd you know I was here?"

"Your Trainer Communicator's on my GPS."

"That makes sense."

"So you were saying you were going to take a break."

"Alright, I'll listen while you talk at me."

"Race you to Training Ground Number Three!"

"But that means I'll have to talk to Morgan-" I was cut off by the sudden appearance of Steph's Pidgeot. Steph leapt on Pidgeot and gave the command for south. Resignedly I boarded Fearow, recalling Poliwrath, and we flew after her. _Well, I am hungry_, was my excuse to myself for abandoning training.

A short while later, we were there, standing outside Training Ground Number Three. Then Morgan and Tanya exited, and we ate at the nearest café.

"So we're four rounds in, and we're all still alive," Tanya said "I propose a toast!"

"None of the drinks have arrived," Morgan pointed out. Tanya poked her tongue out at him.

"Cheers," she said, raising her complimentary muffin. We touched our muffins together then each took a bite. When I set mine down and looked up, Tanya was wiping her mouth of crumbs.

"Two lemonade spiders, a mocha latte and a Coke?" inquired the waitress.

"That's us," Steph said, and took her Coke. I picked up my mocha latte and the other two took their spiders.

"So Josh," said Steph "I heard you almost lost last round."

"Huh? Oh yeah, my opponent was really good. Her Scyther was a major headache and screwed my winning strategy up. I intended to fight it later-"

"Wow, so you had to have a fair fight," said Morgan in a tone of mild surprise.

"Shut up," I muttered, then said to the girls "either of you two had any interesting battles?"

"Absolute pushovers," Steph said smugly "I've only ever gotten down to my last Pokémon once, in my third round- and Dragonite demolished him."

"Yeah, I had a slightly tougher time than little miss smartass over here," Tanya said dryly, and Morgan laughed "and I've had some close battles, but I'm still hanging in there."

"I still can't believe you two are going to battle," Steph said excitedly, and Morgan and I turned to her.

"Who? Morgan asked.

"Oh," Steph explained "the program for the last two rounds came out, there are sixteen people left. And both Tanya and Morgan are set to battle in the sixth round!"

_That_ is _interesting._

"So what about you?" I enquired, and couldn't help noticing Morgan's sudden silence.

"Yeah," Morgan added loudly.

"Well," said Steph "I'm against this water specialist called Wally, and then either some other guy or Zack Hartwell."

"Me now!" I said excitedly, only half being stupid.

"Random people," she said dismissively and I pouted, again only half joking. "Now Tanya, beat your guy and Morgan, beat your chick. I can't wait to see how that turns out!"

Tanya grinned.

"Oh, but first you two have to make like a pact…"

"Doesn't stop talking, does she?" I muttered.

"Nah, don't think she knows how," Morgan replied.

"Hey, leave my sister alone, jerk," I said, punching him in the arm.

"Hey- what was that for?"

"I _said_, Morgan and Tanya have to promise to remain friends after the battle, no matter what happens," Steph went on.

"Alright," Morgan said, and shook Tanya's hand.

-----

_Alright,_ I thought as I walked down the tunnel into Indigo Stadium _this is my first five on five battle. I've read up on this Norman guy, and he has two Water types_. I'd been repeating this to myself for a while now; to assure myself I'd planned properly. _And Ninetales is too good to leave out and Fearow stacks up too poorly against the others, so I had to leave him out. I've prepared properly. I can win._

I emerged once again into blinding sunlight and walked forward, not wanting to look dazzled and foolish. According to the commentator we had both had a similar experience in the first four battles. We slowly drew our first Pokémon.

"Crawdaunt!" shouted Norman.

"Poliwrath!" I called at the same time. "Mind Reader!"

"Crunch!" shouted Norman, and Crawdaunt scuttled forward faster than I expected.

"Dynamicpunch!" Crawdaunt was fast, but Poliwrath was faster, and Crawdaunt had had to cross the space between them. With speed Poliwrath delivered a stunning right hook that slammed the crab Pokémon off his feet. There was a second before he fell, and in that second I ordered another attack.

"Surf!" I shouted and although the blow was superficial Crawdaunt couldn't block and was knocked further off balance and by the wave of water. Poliwrath gave no quarter.

"Submission!" I commanded and Poliwrath struck twice more with first an uppercut and then a side kick that sent Crawdaunt off balance again. Poliwrath attacked with desperation and no guard and as such received light counterattacks- such was the nature of Submission- but his opponent was defeated.

'Excellent!' the commentator exclaimed 'Norman's no pain; no gain style may not work against Josh at all! His opponent's Pokémon have considerable power themselves and attack with great strategy. But Norman's not out yet!'

"No," I muttered sarcastically "I thought he was. Of course he's not, idiot. He's only lost one Pokémon."

"You're going down, Josh! Come on Venasaur!" _Damn it,_ I thought._ Maybe I should have explored a bit more to find more rare Pokémon. The only real out of the way place I went to was Seafoam Islands._

"Sunny Day!" shouted Norman "my starter's really powered up now, you can't hope to win!"

_A premature statement,_ I thought, as Venasaur was only now releasing spores into the air that acted as miniature magnifiers.

I saw immediately that his advantage was complete. "Submission" I shouted, and Poliwrath struck numerous times with punishing blows.

"SolarBeam!" shouted Norman and the battle was over- Poliwrath was wiped out. I recalled him and then smiled.

"Ninetales!" I called, for the conditions were perfect. "Flamethrower!" I commanded and although Venasaur struggled on longer than I expected he could not escape. He tried for a Take Down but Ninetales leapt away, continuing the attack until his opponent fell. Norman glared and recalled his defeated Venasaur.

"Golem!" shouted Norman, and an imposing Rock/Ground Pokémon heeded his call. "Earthquake!"

"Jump on Golem!" I shouted quickly, and Ninetales sprang from the quaking ground to land on Golem. The second Golem stopped the attack I shouted "Iron Tail!" Ninetales leapt lightly off, and then whirled around in midair to slam his nine tails into Golem's face. Golem was spun around by the attack, off balance, and Norman's jaw dropped.

"Double-Edge!" he shouted frantically, wanting to use Golem's weight to his advantage.

"Blast Burn!" I shouted smugly and Golem's low Special Defence, coupled with Norman's training methods was his downfall- the impact demolished the poor Pokémon's health and wiped him out. By now Norman was panicking. The thing was, Ninetales was not actually that far above most of my Pokémon. It was his extra power and his stamina that made him stand out as an excellent battler. He could keep a Flamethrower going for ages. This basically meant that since he hadn't been injured, he was much closer to being new and fresh that most other Pokémon would be after using the same attacks.

"Vaporeon!" shouted Norman, now using his head and realising the best approach to use. I'd been afraid of that. "Hydro Pump!"

"Dodge! Use Façade!" I shouted, while thinking to myself. Ninetales used a basic physical attack, a combination charge and tail strike. Vaporeon was struck but then quickly readjusted her aim and the Hydro Pump attack hit Ninetales fully. I groaned; Ninetales was in a corner literally and figuratively.

"Give it everything you've got! Flamethrower!" I shouted. Ninetales realised the urgency and poured fire at Vaporeon- a ceaseless attack that Vaporeon's stamina could not keep up with, though she could match it in power.

"Alright! Surf!" Vaporeon created a massive wall of water that crashed downwards with the force of a collapsing building.

"Blast Burn!" I shouted and Ninetales simply blasted it out of the way. Norman's eyes bulged.

"Façade!" I commanded and Ninetales slammed into Vaporeon again, yet again proving his stamina and endurance. "Flamethrower!"

"Hydro Pump!" shouted Norman. "Overwhelm this _Fire type_." _Not likely_ I thought, but I was wrong and Ninetales was indeed defeated, though with much more difficulty that Norman would have liked, I had no doubt. I recalled Ninetales.

"Finish this Pokémon," I said, "Vileplume, use SolarBeam." The effects of Sunny Day had not entirely dispersed and so Vileplume was able to release a medium strength SolarBeam right away. Vaporeon was taken out instantly, and Norman looked panicky, fearful. He was on his last, me on my third.

"Blaziken!" Norman shouted, and the starter type native to Johto emerged. The Fire/Fighting type was tall and powerful, but Vileplume did not quail.

"Flamethrower!"

"Dodge! Petal Dance!" Vileplume repeatedly threw himself out of the way, and when the Flamethrower attack would have hit, Petal Dance defended him. With this strategy, Vileplume could match Blaziken's energy output, and eventually Blaziken could not keep the attack up.

"Blaze Kick!" shouted Norman, and Blaziken leapt forward, driving his foot forward into Vileplume, who recoiled under the powerful blow.

"Now Double Kick!"

"Petal Dance shield!" I shouted quickly. Blaziken struck first with an axe kick downward, the blow glancing off of the shield, then span and swept his still flaming foot through the shield with intense power, incinerating it.

"Sleep Powder!" I shouted, the leaves dispersed and a cloud of pollen erupted; Blaziken fell to the floor.

"SolarBeam," I said.

"Sky Uppercut!" shouted Norman and sure enough Blaziken sprang upward, his fist smashing into Vileplume's jaw and lifting him off the ground. "Flamethrower!" A whirlwind of flame erupted and Vileplume was caught. A second later, he fell, and I recalled him.

'Incredible!' I noticed the commentator say 'Blaziken dropped to the ground to avoid the spores, while still giving the impression of having fallen asleep!'

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled.

"What's next, Josh?" asked Norman, obscuring his nervousness with bravado.

"Meowth!" I called, and Norman's eyes narrowed; I gathered he had seen some of Meowth's battles. "Mega Punch!"

"Flamethrower!"

"Sliding combo!" Meowth ran forward, arm pulled back for a strike, but Blaziken released a stream of flame. Meowth leapt, then hit the ground in a sliding manoeuvre, moving forward under the Flamethrower before swinging a foot around and sweeping Blaziken's leg out. Meowth stood up quickly and fell again, driving a left straight downwards, her body parallel to the ground. Blaziken, already falling, hit the ground hard with Meowth's attack. Meowth leapt backward.

"Blaze Kick!"

"Mega Punch!"

Blaziken pushed a flaming kick forward but Meowth merely hopped yo the side and with a terrific punch hit Blaziken so hard she knocked him into the air for half a second. Blaziken crashed and, Norman was shocked to see, struggled to rise. Meowth was simply too good. Her speed and muscle power made her and Blaziken, with his lesser power and far lesser speed, a complete mismatch. Meowth struck three times more, one of Blaziken's Double Kicks hit and afterwards a final Mega Punch knocked Blaziken to the ground once more. He quite literally bit the dust.

We had won.

Norman struggled to control his breathing. He whispered 'Damn it' and punched his palm, then mutely recalled his Pokémon and left. Perfectly understandable, I'd be frustrated too. I accepted my congratulations, and returned to the room. Morgan was sitting, gazing at the TV, flicking through channels. He looked around.

"I lost," he said shortly. I blinked.

"No way," I exclaimed. "How?

"She- she was just better than me. I only got her down to her fourth, but... her Marowak beat... Alakazam, and I lost against her stupid Ursaring twice... I dunno..."

"Hey cheer up. It's not like you did badly or anything, you're in the top sixteen people. I hate to say this, but you're actually a great trainer. And anyway, it's not like you're never going to have another shot, we have two more tournaments after this."

"I can tell by your air of insufferable cheeriness you won?"

"Oh hell yeah."

"Cheater."

-----

"Alright, let's win this!" shouted Tanya "c'mon Dodrio!"

As I sat with Morgan and Steph, I realised I was glad that losing had not depressed Morgan more than the initial world-crushing disappointment. _After all, he spends his whole life in some kind of hyperactive high, so if he got depressed overmuch, he might crash and no doubt die._

"Porygon 2!" shouted her opponent Blake, releasing a small Pokémon who hovered in the air.

"Tri Attack!" shouted Tanya, and Blake responded with the same command. The two attacks met and Porygon 2 overpowered Dodrio's attack. Dodrio squawked as she received the blow and staggered.

"Drill Peck!" shouted Tanya.

"Tri Attack!" countered Blake

"Agility!" she added. Porygon 2 shot out a beam of fire, ice and electricity but Dodrio sped up and ran straight around it. Porygon 2 tried to back away but Dodrio bore down on it and each head stabbed out repeatedly, the powerful beaks pecking madly at Porygon 2.

"Zap Cannon!" shouted Blake triumphantly and at that range Porygon 2 could not miss. Tanya's eyes widened and Porygon 2 released a beam of crackling electricity. Dodrio caught it full on and was sent flying, defeated instantly. Tanya scowled and recalled her Pokémon.

"Starmie!" she called, releasing a large Water/Psychic type "Psychic!"

The jewel at the centre of Starmie's body seemed to gleam. The air between the two combatants shimmered and Porygon 2 was sent flying back from the impact.

"Now catch it and slam it into the ground!" Tanya yelled. Porygon bounced off of a wall, then settled unnaturally in midair. Then it rose and suddenly slammed down into the earth of Indigo Stadium. The Pokémon was out. Tanya grinned. Morgan clapped twice in the silence and stopped, embarrassed.

"Absol!" called Blake.

"Hydro Pump!" shouted Tanya immediately. Starmie blasted a massive stream of water at her opponent, who leapt away but was unable to avoid the attack fully and was struck with the blast to land, disoriented but nevertheless on all fours.

"Faint Attack!" Blake shouted, and Absol jogged forward, then sprang forward and bodily slammed into Starmie, knocking her flying.

"Swift! Recover!" shouted Tanya and Starmie swivelled on a point, sending a dozen white stars at Absol while white radiance engulfed the Pokémon herself. Absol tried instinctively to leap out of the way but the energy stars turned sharply and struck him, knocking him sideways.

"Hydro Pump!"

"Faint Attack!" Starmie unleashed a stream of water that bowled Absol over, but the Dark type struggled up and a moment later slammed into Starmie.

"Swift!" commanded Tanya.

"Faint Attack!" shouted Blake. Absol sprang forward but the wave of energy rays struck, and he fainted in the air, his defeated body falling onto Starmie.

"Come on!" Tanya said "please get up! You'll get a rest anyway, I promise!"

I laughed softly. If Starmie fainted, Tanya would have to release a Pokémon at the same time as Blake would. But if Starmie stayed conscious then Tanya would have the element of surprise. I told Morgan this.

"Well duh," he replied.

"Jeez bro, we're not dumb like you," Steph added.

"Aw, shut up."

Starmie stood, and was alone as Absol was recalled.

"Alright then, come on out Gengar!"

Tanya smiled, and raised her Poké Ball. But then suddenly, a white light bathed Starmie, and Gengar was suddenly unnaturally still. Then the Pokémon's form recoiled three times from under psychic blows. Tanya was surprised, and took a moment to find her voice.

"Shadow Ball!" a ball of energy formed in Gengar's hand and flew instantly towards Starmie, striking the Water/Psychic type with deadly accuracy.

"No, use… aargh, damn it." Tanya recalled her defeated Starmie. Blake grinned. "Raichu!"

"Sludge Bomb!"

"Dodge it!" Gengar launched a poison attack but nimbly Raichu avoided the attack, standing still.

"Shadow Ball!" Gengar created another ball of Ghost energy and lobbed the ball at Raichu who, at another command from Tanya, easily avoided the attack. "Get in close! Shadow Ball!"

"Thunderbolt! Again!" Gengar had barely started to form an attack when the crackling electric move struck, and in a second Raichu was next to the Ghost/Poison type, and another attack struck straight away. Gengar fell. "Yes!" Tanya shouted, and Raichu walked back to her podium.

Blake muttered to himself as he recalled his Gengar. Tanya grinned.

"Flygon!" called Blake.

"Huh, so the Dragon type will weaken the Electric," Morgan observed. "That's clever."

"Uh, Morgan," I said "Flygon's a Ground type as well."

"And _Electric_ doesn't affect _Ground_, does it Morgan?" Steph added. Morgan scowled.

"Earthquake!" shouted Blake. Raichu had nowhere to run, the frighteningly powerful attack battered her and inflicted large damage. "Dragonbreath!"

"Light Screen! Strength!" Tanya commanded. The purplish stream of energy was met by a shimmering shield, and Raichu leapt over it, heading towards Flygon turning in midair then suddenly she span, her tail slammed into the dragon with surprising force. The Ground/Dragon type slammed into the ground. "Strength again!"

"Earthquake!" Raichu's closed fists came down into Flygon's crumpled body, but his tail hit the ground and it shattered beneath Raichu, the mouse Pokémon fell and the earth began shaking beneath her, raised pieces of earth slamming into her. Raichu was out. Tanya released her second last Pokémon, a Tauros.

"What else does she have?" I whispered to Steph, purposely getting in Morgan's way and moving with him as he tried to look around me.

"A Rapidash and her Granbull."

"Well duh, we know what her starter type is, Steph," Morgan said.

"Shut up Morgan," Steph and I said in unison.

"Take Down!" Tanya commanded.

"Fly," Blake countered. Tauros went straight past Flygon as the dragon Pokémon flew straight upward, then lazily turned and whipped downward through the air, slamming bodily into Tauros. I wondered whether anyone had ever mentioned to Blake that that was not how you were supposed to fight Tauros.

"Thrash!" Tanya commanded, and Tauros stomped, slammed with horns and generally pummelled the poor Pokémon.

"Dragonbreath!" Blake said frantically "get out of there! No- Hyper Beam!" Tauros shrugged off the first attack, injured by a critical hit though too stubborn and riled up to care or even notice. Flygon tried to hurl himself away but Tauros' hooves came down on his body and the dragon Pokémon released a Hyper Beam, the powerful attack lifting Tauros off of the ground and depositing the defeated Pokémon neatly a few feet away. With a scowl Tanya recalled her defeated Pokémon and released her last.

"Granbull," Tanya shouted "Take Down!" The large purple Pokémon charged and before Blake could finish saying what I assumed would be 'get out of theology', Flygon was lifted off of the ground and hurled downward hard. The Ground/Dragon type was taken out, or 'Taken Down', more accurately.

"Electrode!" called Blake "Rollout!"

"Headbutt!" commanded Tanya. The two met head on, and Granbull was forced back but her thick head protected her and with a toss Electrode was sent flying into the air, spinning slowly.

"Thunderbolt!" shouted Blake, and Electrode revolved to face Granbull; there was a crackling sound and Tanya's Pokémon received a precise bolt of electricity. Injured, Granbull prepared to dodge the next attack. It never came.

"Take Down!" Tanya commanded, and Granbull charged forward to where Electrode would land. Electrode hit the ground hard and Granbull slammed into it, sending the Electric type flying away, bouncing occasionally. "Chase it down!" Granbull went off, running more than half the arena's length to chase after Electrode.

"Climb the wall!" Blake shouted suddenly. With one quick spin Electrode neutralised his movement, then moved quickly in a spiral motion, now running parallel to the curved wall. It touched and then I assumed with static electricity was rolling along the wall at high speed. "Thunderbolt!"

"Dodge!" There was no dodging; the attack struck head on, blasting Granbull back. I could imagine Tanya's frustration- if they could only get one more hit, they could take Electrode out. It was just lucky Electrode did not naturally excel in Special Attack.

It all happened so quickly. Electrode struck with a Rollout, then a Thunderbolt and another Rollout. Granbull looked like she was falling in slow motion. She hit the ground hard, and shock was etched into Tanya's face. After all the challenges Tanya's journey was over. Defeated by some guy we'd never even met.

The four of us were down to two- Steph and I. Our eyes met, and as the commentator announced Blake's victory I began to feel truly worried.


	10. Chapter 10: Final Qualifiers

The chapter title says it all.

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**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 10 Final Qualifiers- Josh or Krystal, Zack or Steph?

I breathed slowly. This was the last battle. Eight trainers were left, out of… two hundred and something, I don't know. Two hundred and fifty-six, if you count the Eliminators.

Tanya and Morgan had both lost in round five, and in round six I would fight my last fight. If I won, the Elite Four and hopefully eternal recognition and riches awaited.

I tried to convince myself that my opponent was feeling as nervous as I was, but I just couldn't believe it. There she was, at her podium. Krystal. Straight black hair, vacant stare, _hey, I should write a song_, good Pokémon, no exceptional strategy. Why should I be worried about losing?

'The first battle of the sixth round will now commence,' the commentator said 'with two exceptional trainers, Joshua and Krystal. Let the battle begin!'

"Fearow!" I called. My bird Pokémon flew up to my head height and hovered there.

"Nidoqueen!" shouted Krystal "Ice Beam!"

"Fly!" I countered. _Great, Nidoqueen knows Ice Beam. _Fearow dropped through the air and the ice attack went overhead. The bird Pokémon snapped out his wings and slammed into Nidoqueen hard, knocking the sturdy Pokémon off balance.

"Drill Peck!"

"Body Slam!"

"Fly! … And again!" Fearow aborted the attack as Nidoqueen lunged forward, circling to strike the off balance Nidoqueen from behind and sending her toppling forward. Fearow gained height quickly and then flew straight down again, striking the injured Nidoqueen again.

Fearow flew upwards again.

"Ice Beam!" Krystal commanded, and again Nidoqueen missed.

"Fly in close, Mirror Move!" Krystal blanched. Fearow zoomed in and opened his beak, releasing a weak but super effective attack that took the weakened Pokémon out. I was reminded instantly of Articuno. As Krystal recalled Nidoqueen I spotted my friends in the stands. Steph waved and hit the person behind her in the face. I struggled not to laugh.

"Cloyster!" called Krystal.

_Crap._

"Ice Beam!" I shouted.

"Dodge, Fly!"

"Withdraw!" The Ice attack was powerful, but Fearow easily avoided the attack, hurtling towards Cloyster. She, however, merely retreated inside her shell and Fearow pretty much bounced off.

"Ice Beam!" Krystal commanded.

"Dodge, Mirror Move!" I commanded. Fearow managed to avoid the ice attack, and responded with one of his own. The attack was not very effective but it was a direct hit and Fearow did not have to conserve his Special Attack energy, not to mention that Cloyster's low Special Defence made the attack more damaging.

It had seemed as though victory would elude us in this bout, but Fearow's prowess with Mirror Move and ability to dodge turned the tables completely on our opponent. Cloyster could not hit and when Fearow responded the damage hammered away at the Water/Ice type. I could only guess now at what Krystal's next move would be.

"Water Pulse!"

"Out of the- yes!" I shouted, for Fearow had managed to dodge the more accurate attack by dropping straight downwards "now get in close and Mirror Move!" Fearow sped straight toward Cloyster, preparing an attack.

"Explosion!" Krystal shouted. White rays began pouring out of Cloyster and then with a deafening boom the Pokémon released all her power in an explosion of energy, Fearow was plucked out of the air and sent flying upward, defeated. Grimly I recalled Fearow, and Krystal did the same for Cloyster. Our eyes met for an instant, then we both looked downwards to the Pokémon on our belts.

'That was certainly unexpected,' the commentator was announcing 'Krystal must have gotten an imported TM for that move, but what about Fearow causing so much trouble? Joshua should be very proud of his bird Pokémon!'

_As I am,_ I thought, and then _it's easy to zone this guy out. _I'd been doing it for most of the Pokémon League now, he was so boring.

"Ampharos!" I called.

"Arcanine! Err… Extremespeed!" Arcanine bounded forward.

"Thunder!" I shouted. A split second before Arcanine hit my Pokémon she released a powerful lightning attack at point blank range. Arcanine was lifted off her paws by the power of the attack and badly hurt.

"Blast Burn!" she shouted, and Arcanine released an incendiary ball of flame that struck Ampharos and exploded, blasting the Electric type into the wall. "Extremespeed!"

"Thunderbolt!" before the smoke from Blast Burn had cleared Arcanine ran straight through it, emerging heading straight at Ampharos. The Thunderbolt missed, and I did the only thing I could think of. "Iron Tail!"

Ineffective perhaps, but Ampharos' final action was to slam a desperate, strong attack into Arcanine, both Pokémon striking simultaneously. Both fell, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was on my third Pokémon, Krystal on her fourth.

"Ursaring!" she called.

"Poliwrath!" I shouted at the same time. "Submission!"

"Thrash!" Both Pokémon gave as good as they were given, exchanging reckless, powerful blows. Each struck, only to be struck. If not for Fighting's advantage over Normal, who knows which way the match might have gone. Clearly Krystal thought that Ursaring's size would give him the edge in physical combat but in this instance she was entirely mistaken. Poliwrath was triumphant, and pushed aside the defeated Ursaring, panting.

Krystal, her mouth set, recalled her Ursaring and released her last.

"Marowak!" she called, releasing what had to be her starter Pokémon, a determined and tough looking Ground type. "Bone Rush!" she commanded and Marowak ran forward.

"Submission!" I shouted, and Poliwrath hit Marowak with a hammer fist, but Marowak's bone strike found Poliwrath's body and struck, driving his breath out. In rapid succession Marowak hit thrice with his weapon, battering Poliwrath all over. "Surf!"

"Create a hole!" commanded Krystal, and Marowak smashed a hole in the ground with a bone strike before scurrying down into it and standing up so that he was below ground level. The wall of water swept overhead.

"Dynamicpunch!" I commanded. Poliwrath leapt over the hole and in a crouching movement struck a final blow at Marowak, a powerful straight.

"Bonemerang!" Krystal shouted, and Marowak hurled his bone at Poliwrath, slamming him onto his back. The bone circled backward and Marowak caught it in one hand, then leapt out of the hole.

I thought to myself for a moment as I recalled Poliwrath. Ninetales doesn't have the power to beat a super effective Pokémon of Marowak's level, and Vileplume didn't have the speed. Meowth had more than enough of everything, and might have done some serious damage had I included her in my party. I was unprepared for Marowak's strength, and in one painful moment I decided on my course of action.

"Ninetales!" I commanded "use Flamethrower!"

"Avoid it!" Krystal shouted. Ninetales released an advancing wave of flame that Marowak could not avoid if he wanted to. It was all he could do to escape the maelstrom for a second before the flame attack swept inexorably towards him.

"Alright, Bonemerang!"

"Blast Burn!" the massive explosion of flame, much more powerful than Arcanine's swept the bone weapon away before it could get near and also injured Marowak. Ninetales had far exceeded his normal rate of energy output, and he could not keep this pace as long as he usually could.

"Bone Rush!" Marowak leapt high to catch his spinning weapon and then fell, landing in a strike but Ninetales had leapt aside. Marowak ran forward and swung again, but again Ninetales moved away, the attack missing again. Marowak feinted and then moved to Ninetales, and the bone weapon struck. I winced as the weapon slammed into Ninetales, lifting him off two feet, and then from the other side with a solid thunk.

"Iron Tail!" I commanded, and Ninetales struck heavily with all nine tails, sending Marowak staggering. "Flamethrower!"

Ninetales gave it everything he had, and Marowak was for a second caught in the fire.

"Bone Rush!" The flame stopped abruptly as Marowak slammed his bone into Ninetales' body, and then a final blow to the head. I winced as my Ninetales fell, defeated. Bitterly I recalled him.

"Vileplume!" I called "SolarBeam! Finish this!" Vileplume was only too happy to oblige, taking in sunlight quickly.

"Ice Beam!" shouted Krystal, and I froze.

"No! Petal Dance!" The shield of leaves formed quickly and while the attack would have been supereffective on Vileplume it had no such advantage on the shield and was effectively repelled. The leaves surged forward in a tide, striking Marowak from all sides and pinning him down. And finally it was over, the SolarBeam unneeded.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and then grinned. _Yes!_ I was one of the last four trainers! I had gained the right to battle the Elite Four!

Krystal's mouth was slightly open, and I suddenly felt empathy for her. To her, I would have been like Blake or Cindy to Tanya or Morgan, she had come so far, only to have a random person who was better than her beat her in a Pokémon battle and rob her of it all.

*

'Ladies and gentlemen! The second to last battle of the Kanto Pokémon League is about to begin! The competitors are Zackery Hartwell and Stephanie Miller! Let the battle commence!'

_Yes, let._ I couldn't wait to see how this turned out.

"Pidgeot!" both called at the same time.

"Fly!" was the command given, again in unison. Both Pokémon whipped upwards and it was impossible to tell whose was faster. Both collided spectacularly, feathers floating downwards.

"Fly!" shouted Zack.

"FeatherDance! Steel Wing!" countered Steph. With a very well aimed gust of wind Steph's Pidgeot blew the floating feathers onto Zack's Pidgeot, making her far less aerodynamic. Then Steph's own Pidgeot zoomed forward and slammed his wing into his slower moving opponent, knocking her downwards.

"Agility! Fly!" commanded Zack.

"Fly!" shouted Steph and both Pokémon collided once more. "Steel Wing!"

"Whirlwind!" shouted Zack and with an incredible blast of wind Steph's Pidgeot was sent flying away. "Ride it! Agility! Fly!" Zack's Pidgeot flew into the whirlwind and lifted a wing, using its energy to glide, high-speed toward Steph's Pidgeot. Then Zack's Pokémon sped up and slammed into Pidgeot with incredible force, knocking him out of the sky.

"Agility! Fly!" shouted Zack instantly.

"Fly!" cried Steph. One final collision and Zack's Pokémon was the only one left. My sister recalled her Pokémon.

It was too early to tell who would win but it looked like both would give each other a great battle.

"Arbok!" Steph called "Sludge Bomb!" Pidgeot was too exhausted to be able to dodge and the poison attack wiped him out instantly.

"Alright, Golem!" called Zack "Earthquake!"

"Jump on it!" Arbok received two hits from the crushing earth but somehow leapt through the air to be on Golem, and I recalled only two days ago when I had done the same thing, and sure enough Steph gave the same command I had; "Iron Tail!" Arbok slithered off and swung his body around into Golem, sending the Rock/Ground type staggering, injured.

"Giga Drain!" Steph shouted, and Arbok finished off his opponent while restoring his own health. The thing was, Golem weren't that good. They were just big and Rock/Ground and had good defence and attack. But pretty much any non-physical Grass or Water move could take them out, and Giga Drain was one of those.

"Hypno!" called Zack now "Psychic!" Now he was using his head. Arbok suddenly stiffened, then began wriggling, trying to escape the psychic clutches. Hypno's psychic attacks were deadly and though Arbok struggled out he was much the worse for it.

"Crunch!" Steph shouted.

"Psychic!" Zack ordered but Arbok slithered out of the way and it was the ground next to him that erupted in dust and flying rock. Arbok rose suddenly and his jaws clamped down on Hypno.

"Psychic!" Zack shouted and Arbok was blasted off, defeated at last. Steph recalled him proudly.

"Lapras!" she called and a very rare Lapras emerged, smiling happily. "Hydro Pump!" Hypno could neither escape, nor repel the blast with psychic energy. Zack was now down to his fourth Pokémon.

"Dewgong! Let's match our Water and Ice types, Steph!"

"Have fun with that. Sheer Cold." Lapras released an intense wave of cold that deadened the nerves- Dewgong was defeated instantly. Zack's mouth fell open.

"No! How could you? I'll pay you back for that- Arcanine!"

"Hydro Pump!"

"Flamethrower!"

A powerful torrent of water and an intense stream of fire met in the centre of the arena and a hissing mound of steam erupted. All that could be heard for a few seconds was the roaring flame and hissing but then a squeal of pain sounded. The steam was replaced by billowing smoke.

"Now Blast Burn!"

A whistle. An explosion. Lapras flew out of the cloud of mingled smoke and steam, trailing smog behind her, and that bout was over. I suppose it was a combination of the attacks, scalding steam and impact of the wall.

"Lapras, return. Venasaur, I guess…"

"Flamethrower!"

"Frenzy Plant!" It was no good- Flamethrower triumphed and almost instantly Venasaur was defeated. Finally, it was down to the last two.

I noted that Zack had probably concentrated too much on training his Arcanine.

"Dragonite!" Steph called, and a truly formidable Dragon/Flying type emerged. Dragonite's major weakness was Ice, but I doubted Zack had the foresight to teach Arcanine an Ice type move. Oh well, his loss. This battle promised to be very interesting.

"Extremespeed!" Arcanine leapt through the air and struck Dragonite on his shoulder.

"Dragon Claw!" shouted Steph, and Dragonite delivered an incredible blow to the Fire type, knocking him sideways and off his feet.

"Flamethrower!" Though impressive, the attack was ineffective and Dragonite flew forwards at a command for Fly. The two collided horizontally and Arcanine was slammed back, unsteady from the two attacks.

"No! I can't lose! Use Blast Burn!" Arcanine let loose a massive ball of flame that swept towards Dragonite at high speed.

"Hyper Beam!" From Dragonite's jaws was blasted a golden ray of energy; it met and was absorbed completely by Blast Burn. Dragonite bore the hit, the weakened fireball detonating in a small but very smoky explosion.

"Dragon Claw!" Steph commanded. With a final swipe of glowing claws Arcanine was defeated. Zack had lost and my surprise told me I had deep down expected him to win.

'What a stunning battle…' the commentator began.

_Ah, shut up._


	11. Chapter 11: Lorelei

These four chapters will probably be pretty short, as the plot only really allows for a battle, maybe some dialogue before and after the battles. Well, enjoy, unless you won't.

**

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**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 11 The Elite Four- Battle 1

"So there I was, winning as usual…" I was saying when there came a knock at the door. Morgan jumped up and opened it, and there a League official stood.

"Joshua Miller?" he enquired.

"Yes," I responded.

"You are to come with me. Your Elite Four battles are to commence soon." I shrugged and walked out after him, while Morgan gave me a thumbs up, and then his other hand wrestled it down and turned it upside down. _Yeah, thanks for the support_.

We walked for a while before we came to the semicircular building that half encircled Indigo Stadium.

"This is the building where the Elite Four await you, Challenger Josh."

He left, so I walked on. Steph was the only other one there.

"Hey sis," I greeted her.

"Hey bro," she said. "Can you believe that we're here?"

"Me, yes," I said "but I'm shocked that you managed to make it here."

"Ha, ha."

"Nah, but seriously, this is amazing. I mean, here we are, part of the top four trainers. And we get to challenge the _Elite Four_. How incredible is that?"

"I know!" she squealed "it's just so surreal.'

"Surreal? I think you mean unreal."

"Ah, shut up."

Our customary banter seemed forced, somehow, the nervousness that permeated the air making us awkward, unsure. A minute later another trainer appeared a thin one who looked about twelve with short gelled black hair. He acknowledged us with a nod, then stared moodily at the ground. Three minutes after that the last trainer arrived, a bright eyed brunette who looked as though she managed a hundred hours sleep. The sight of her irritated me faintly. She seemed almost to be bouncing.

"Right," said the official who delivered the over-alert brunette who gazed with wide eyes as though she'd never seen a wall before "You four trainers; Joshua, Stephanie, Raven and Melinda. Congratulations on making it this far. You have my sincere praise and amazement." He seemed to regret the statement as no one laughed at it, indeed Melinda gave him a sharp look and her eyes narrowed.

"Ahem. First to enter is Melinda, and then the next trainer will be called forth, and they will enter. Joshua, then Raven and finally Stephanie are to battle. There will understandably be a delay between each battle for the Elite Four's Pokémon to recover. We hope to be finished today." Steph's face fell.

The door opened and I could see a short hallway as Melinda and the official walked in before the door closed once again.

After what seemed like hours, and may well have been, my name was called from beyond the door.

"Joshua Miller!" the Pokémon League official called. I started, then opened the door and walked down the curved corridor. Eventually a large, ornate door came into view. _Why bother with the corridor? Why didn't they just get rid of it and have the entrance here?_

I pushed the door open and was struck by a sudden wave of cold. I was standing on a rubber mat opposite a woman garbed in a fur scarf and silken cloak, standing on a similar mat. Cold struck at me repeatedly, stabbing in waves. Behind the thick glass surrounding the walls was ice. The floor was ice.

The woman spoke: "Hello, Josh. Welcome to the Pokémon League. I am Loreli of the Elite Four. Nobody can best me when it comes to icy Pokémon. Freezing moves are powerful! Your Pokémon will be at my mercy when they are frozen solid. Are you ready?" I nodded.

"Bring it on." And so my challenge of the Pokémon League began.

"Go! Dewgong!" Lorelei called.

"Let's go! Fearow!" I called. "Use Fly! With a confusing flight path!"

"Ice Beam!" shouted Lorelei. Dewgong unleashed what was, excluding Articuno's, the most powerful Ice Beam I had ever seen; a scything beam of ice energy that swept through the air. Fearow understood my instructions and feinted, then flew to the left before changing direction sharply again. Fearow slammed into Dewgong hard, sending the seal Pokémon sliding across the ice.

Instantly Lorelei was on the attack. "Headbutt!" she shouted and faster than I would have believed possible Dewgong changed direction, charging across the ice to slam into Fearow, who had- taken by surprise at Dewgong's bulk and solidity- not yet risen above ground level.

"Fly! Hit on your way around her to retreat!" I shouted. Fearow flew to the left of Dewgong, then flew straight at her, smacking into the seal Pokémon from the side, almost bouncing off to complete the circle and return to his place in front of me.

"Icy Wind!" Lorelei shouted then, and Dewgong sent Fearow's way a pocket of ice wind that struck easily, knocking Fearow out of the air. "Now Ice Beam!"

"Mirror Move! Fly!" Fearow flew out of the way and used a weak Ice Beam against the much less agile Dewgong, catching it off guard before a desperate Fly technique, slamming into the Ice/Water Pokémon one last time, lifted Dewgong off her feet. She crashed into the ice and was still.

Lorelei was surprised. After all that she'd only managed one hit against Fearow, although it was a super effective one.

"Return, Dewgong," she said, doing just that. "Now Cloyster!

Weird. The very last battle I had fought involved these same two Pokémon. _Heh, that just means I'm prepared on how to fight one_. Fearow kept out of range, dodging the attacks and responding with weak Mirror Moved attacks, hammering away at the Pokémon's low Special Defence. The plan went well, although first an Ice Beam had struck Fearow's wing and then my bird Pokémon was caught full on by Spike Cannon.

Lorelei realised that to win back lost ground she would have to finish the battle now. Fine by me.

"Get in close!" she shouted, and Cloyster rocked backward, then forward suddenly, the spikes on his shell supporting him and keeping him from rolling over.

"Now Hyper Beam!"

"Mirror Move!" When I talked about Fearow's prowess with Mirror Move, I meant ability to instantly copy a move, effectively. Cloyster had better Special Attack than Fearow but Hyper Beam, unlike Ice Beam, was one Fearow's could learn, and of course Hyper Beam was Normal type like Fearow.

The golden ray burst from Fearow's jaws a split second after a similar white hot beam of energy erupted from inside Cloyster's shell. It was a direct contest of strength and determination- both Pokémon's advantages cancelling each other out.

It was an even match but Fearow weakened first, and the spot where the attacks met grew closer to Fearow.

"Alright, end the attack and then an Agility-Fly combo," I said quickly. With a surge of strength Fearow forced Cloyster's beam back and then dropped out of the air, flying in close to deliver a final attack. Cloyster keeled over in defeat.

"Alright, Slowbro!" Lorelei called. Then I remembered we still had three battles after this one, and decided to conserve Fearow's energy. The lower a Pokémon's health got, the more they were tired out even if their health were restored. Time and rest only cured this, which was why the Elite Four was such a challenge.

"Fearow, return," I said, recalling him. "Now Ampharos! Thunderbolt!"

"Psychic!" Lorelei countered. The crackling lighting attack leapt forward but Slowbro used a Psychic attack to deflect it- it rebounded off air, sparks leaping and intensifying as Ampharos' power was tested against Slowbro's. A stalemate was reached, and both Pokémon abated their efforts.

"Surf!"

"Light Screen!"

The same thing happened in reverse; Ampharos defended against a crashing wall of water with a shield of light and again a conclusion failed to be reached. I grinned.

"Thunder!" I shouted. A bit redundant, teaching Ampharos two high levelled Electric type attacks but this only proved the worth. Ampharos had trained this technique in balancing massive power with acceptable-in-a-pinch accuracy- Slowbro could not defend and was blasted away.

"Psychic!" Lorelei commanded and to my surprise Slowbro struggled up. This time the Psychic was for offence; Ampharos was caught in a net of invisible energy and slammed into the wall. She was held there and it repeatedly with Psychic.

"Break out!" I shouted, and yet again the two tested strengths directly but Slowbro had been wounded and Ampharos was able to escape. I grinned.

"Thunderbolt!" Another attack struck and Slowbro fell for good. Lorelei recalled her defeated Water/Psychic type. _Next_.

"Jynx!" she called "Blizzard!" Jynx attacked and the powerful Ice move finished Ampharos off easily. I scowled, recalling Ampharos.

"Ninetales! Flamethrower!" I shouted. Ninetales burst forth, eager to fight. Immediately my fox Pokémon unleashed a medium strength Flamethrower, catching Jynx off guard. Lorelei gave the command first for Psychic to block and then for Blizzard in a desperate attempt to halt the flame torrent but to no avail.

"No! How- alright, return," she said bitterly. "Come on, Lapras! Hydro Pump!"

"Dodge!" I commanded. Honestly, we'd never get through this if all of Lorelei's Pokémon insisted on engaging mine in direct contests of strength. Immediately Lapras renewed his aim and Ninetales was hit and sent sprawling. A second later he was on his feet.

"Iron tail!" I shouted, and Ninetales charged.

"Sheer Cold!"

"Yeah, well Sheer Heat! I mean warm the air with fire." _Yeah, fire- that's your solution to everything,_ I told myself.

Ninetales gathered flame in his jaws and released it, effectively combating the advancing wave of cold.

"Now Blast Burn! Last Pokémon!" Before the battle could get interesting or exhausting a final attack won out; a huge orb of flame that Ninetales gave his all to wiped out Lapras in an explosive blast. Smoke whipped outward, dissipating quickly to reveal a defeated Lapras.

"No! I- well, congratulations, but don't get complacent. You only got a taste of Pokemon League power!"

And as I recalled Ninetales, I thought that I would be at all surprised if that was so, and with feeling of nervousness only slightly decreased I walked past Lorelei, uttering a 'good match'.

"Well, since I'm the first member, it's rare that I defeat the trainers that come through, but usually I faze them much more than I did you. But still, don't get complacent."

"I'll try not to."


	12. Chapter 12: Bruno

**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 12 Bruno

I walked forward into another hallway, at the end of which was a machine for restoring Pokémon's health. A man stood next to it. He looked about forty, short with black hair.

"Oh, you won your battle. Melinda did too, in case you were wondering. Josh, isn't it? Come on, and let's heal your Pokémon. How many did you lose?"

"Ah, two. I battled with three all up."

"Wow," he said "that's... I'm John, by the way- that's very... impressive. I myself got to the Elite Four once, but I lost against Jackson, the first of the Elite Four in Hoenn, but you probably didn't know that. That's how I got this job actually, he put in a good word for me because we sat together in the final match- 'cause two people got past the Elite Four that year. Anyway, I'm sorry. Which Pokémon did you lose?"

"Here you go. Fearow and... Ampharos. And Ninetales, too please."

"Alright. Using a Fire type, huh? I had a Ninetales once- anyway, Jackson trained Grass types, see, and..."

My. God. _He just doesn't stop talking..._

A few seconds later, Melinda came through the same door, stunned. She didn't seem on the verge of tears, however; on the contrary, her jaw was set hard. Chin held high, she walked straight past us and then out a side door.

"Oh yeah, if you lose," John continued "go out that door so you don't disturb the other battles. I remember a trainer walked in right during our battle and a Cacturne nearly hit him straight on, cause I'd just used Hyper Beam, which I remember I had to get the TM for from Lilycove because they were out at the Pokémon League and the TMs weren't being delivered for a week so I saddled up my well not actually saddled up..."

An excruciatingly long time later, it was my turn to battle the next trainer. I walked into the next room and immediately wondered whether customising them was a job requirement. Room Number Two was plain, with plain floorboards and kanji painted on the walls. The man at the other end of the room, who I happened to notice was wearing no shoes or socks and who I couldn't help noticing was shirtless, bowed slightly to me, and quickly I imitated the gesture. He smiled.

"I am Bruno of the Elite Four. You are the second trainer; therefore you must be Joshua-san, no?"

"Sure, why not-san."

He scowled and I realised sheepishly I'd probably been pretty rude.

"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean that."

"Whatever. Come on, Onix."

"Poliwrath!"

"Double-Edge!" he shouted.

"Surf!" I countered, confident. And even if I had grossly underestimated Onix the various factors made victory certain. Bruno scowled as his Pokémon was struck by the wave of water and thrown back before she could attack, defeated easily.

"Alright, Onix, return. Hitmonchan! Thunder Punch!"

"Dynamicpunch!" Both Pokémon struck at the same time- Hitmonchan's lightning-wreathed fist slammed into Poliwrath's belly just as Poliwrath's fist crashed into Hitmonchan's jaw. Hitmonchan was knocked to the ground but Poliwrath received more damage, involuntarily falling to one knee before straightening up again.

"Surf!" I commanded, determined to exploit any advantage.

"Run through and Thunderpunch!" Bruno countered. Shaking himself Hitmonchan charged through the rushing attack, being immediately halted and forced back but okay. After the mild confusion the water attack was rattling but Hitmonchan pulled himself together, and ran forward.

"Mind Reader! Dynamicpunch!" I shouted. Perhaps Poliwrath realised that the advantage lay with Hitmonchan because he threw everything he had into the punch and Hitmonchan was sent staggering backward. Hitmonchan hit beforehand with a medium strength Thunderpunch, centring himself to better absorb the nevertheless undiminished attack.

"Again!" Bruno shouted and Hitmonchan was ready. A final, powerful Thunderpunch was forthcoming and knocked Poliwrath out cold. I recalled him.

Then, loath though I was to do it as his last battle had not been very long ago at all, I sent out Fearow.

"Drill Peck!" I commanded immediately and Fearow swooped.

"Thunderpunch!" Bruno countered.

"Fly! Up and then hit!" Fearow adjusted his flight path, swooping steeply up before curving gracefully downward and accelerating sharply.

"Avoid! Thunderpunch again!" Bruno commanded.

"Get out of there!" I shouted. Hitmonchan stepped lightly back and swung viciously with a left hook but Fearow again turned sharply and flew away. It was a stalemate, one I intended to resolve. "Now Fly! ... And Agility!"

"No! Thunderpunch!" But it worked to perfection, Fearow speeding up at precisely the right moment and slamming into the Fighting type, taking him out neatly. "Damn! Alright, return. Now Onix!"

_Who has two of the same Pokémon?_

Much of what I expected ensued. Fearow became the one who dodged and Onix, the slower, tried in vain to hit. I had a plan, but it banked on Onix knowing a certain move. Unfortunately Onix did not know Iron Tail, but at the time I hoped it was so.

Luckily, the fourth technique in Onix's move pool was helpful anyway. "Dragonbreath!"

"Mirror Move! Aim for its Special Defence stat!" Both streams of Dragon type energy met and for once Fearow's Special Attack outclassed his opponent, Fearow easily overpowered and struck heavily his opponent. "Now Fly while he's distracted!"

A low strength Fly hit Onix, but as Bruno refused to command Dragonbreath again I realised the match would never be won like this.

"Fearow, return! Finish it off, come on Vileplume!"

"Double-Edge!"

"Petal Dance!" I countered. Onix threw himself forward but Vileplume's surging tide of leaves held and forced Onix back and with a final surge defeated the Rock/Ground giant at last.

"Onix, return. Hitmonlee, let's beat this Grass type!"

Grass and Poison, but I suppose it doesn't roll off-

"Blaze Kick!"

"Petal Dance shield! Charge a SolarBeam!"

Hitmonlee swept a flaming foot into the shield of leaves, breaking through easily.

"Now split it into four groups and attack toward the middle!" I shouted, practically asking for what happened next. Quarters of the remaining leaves flew outward and then drove back in to meet in the middle.

"Hi Jump Kick!" Bruno shouted and Hitmonlee leapt high as the leaf attack struck itself below, powerful leg kicking out before he fell. Vileplume was caught unaware by the speed and was hit heavily and sent staggering back.

"Release that SolarBeam!"

The second Hitmonlee hit the ground a powerful beam of sunlight blasted him away.

"Charge another SolarBeam!" I shouted, and we knew this match would be decided by the next few moves. "Sludge Bomb!"

"Blaze Kick!"

"Alright, get out of there!" I shouted. Vileplume waited, then hurled himself out of the way. Hitmonlee landed and neatly bounced over to Vileplume, spinning quickly to slam a foot into his face, sending him back a few steps and spinning him around to face the other way.

"And release!" I shouted, and again the beam of sunlight struck true, and Hitmonlee was taken out. Furious, Bruno recalled his defeated Hitmonlee and released his final Pokémon.

"Machamp!" he called. _Vileplume's so getting a break after this_.

"Sludge Bomb!" I commanded.

"Dodge it!" shouted Bruno and Machamp did so, easily.

"Charge a SolarBeam."

"Cross Chop!" Bruno shouted.

"Fend him off with Petal Dance!" I commanded. "And keep charging that SolarBeam!"

Machamp crossed both sets of arms in front of his chest and leapt forward but a tide of leaves impeded him and he was caught in midair and repulsed. Vileplume raised his arms and the Petal Dance whipped forward, slamming into Machamp.

"Vile, Vileplume!" Vileplume said then, the signal that he had charged as much as he could.

"Alright, catch him with another Petal Dance and hit him with that SolarBeam!" I shouted, and Vileplume dealt a decisive hit.

I decided I needed to conserve my party's energy as a whole, and so I recalled Vileplume against his protests.

"So I'm just an obstruction in your path?" Bruno said savagely "I'll teach you not to take the Pokémon League seriously."

"I'll teach you to threaten me with the might of the Pokémon League, or... something?" I stumbled. "I'll choose a Pokémon you can't possibly beat. NINETALES!"

"No doubt your starter type," Bruno said "well, Machamp was mine. We went on our entire journey together, and our bond shall overcome yours!"

"Nah," I replied "come on! Flamethrower!" Ninetales, seeing his opponent weakened, unleashed a massive flame attack. Okay, credit where credit is due. Bruno gave the command for Machamp to Cross Chop and Machamp ran through the flame, while keeping out as much as he could. That showed courage. Courage and strength. But Ninetales sprang to the side, running away far faster than Machamp could keep up.

"Flamethrower again!" I commanded, and Ninetales again unleashed an intense wave of flame. Machamp tried to avoid it but Ninetales increased the power and had half the arena bathed in flame. Bruno's mouth was open. Machamp gave a final cry and fell. Ninetales cut off the attack at once. As soon as we recalled our Pokémon John burst through, releasing a Gyarados and a Lapras at the same time to combat the flame with Surf. Poliwrath too helped out.

Bruno gazed at the carnage that was his arena and immediately I felt a pang of pity. He caught my gaze.

"Oh, don't worry," he reassured me "this is a Pokémon arena. You'd be surprised how often this happens. The wood can easily be repaired, and we'll battle in a spare arena." Regret somewhat eased, I walked onward, and Bruno sighed to himself and I rather thought it was more about the loss of the battle than his arena.

**

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**Battle number two down. We're almost at the exciting conclusion, folks! Stay tuned. And then stay even further tuned for another two journeys.


	13. Chapter 13: Agatha

**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 13 Agatha

I walked into the next corridor. I was met by a young woman who glanced up from a book she was reading.

"Ah yes, hello. Josh, is it?"

"Yep," I replied.

"Ah, good. And how many Pokémon do you need healed?"

"Four. Here, Ninetales, Vileplume, Poliwrath and… Fearow."

"Impressive," she said, smiling "not many trainers only lose three Pokémon in the battle before this next one."

"Thanks," I said, handing her my Pokémon.

The interim was very short, as I was now in front of the trainers challenging the Elite Four and as such the third Elite Four trainer wouldn't have needed any time to recover as she wouldn't have battled anyone yet. Therefore it was only my Pokémon who were the ones needing rest. The girl who had healed my Pokémon gave me the thumbs up, and I pushed the door to the next room open.

I entered the room, which was dim with a plain earth floor and painted black walls. An old woman stood in the centre of the room, and it was she who now spoke.

"Greetings, challenger of the Elite Four," she said "I am Agatha. I must say, I am impressed that you got this far."

_Yeah, right, _I thought to myself. _Lorelei said she usually doesn't beat trainers. And if people normally never got up to the third trainer then why bother having four? _When I had been a kid, I had always regarded the Elite Four as invincible, and anyone who passed them nothing short of superhuman. But now I had reached the level, I saw that they could hardly have been the strongest trainers ever. Firstly, why would they pit the very ultimate against trainers still very much in their first year of training?

Besides, if the aim was to defeat us, why not simply replace them with the trainers who defeated them?

"… But your League challenge ends here. Prepare to lose."

"Bring it on. Meowth!"

"Haunter!"

I'd merely selected the Pokémon who had battled the least on my team, but the types matched up well too. Meowth's Faint Attack would be deadly, and all Haunter had to fall back on were Poison type attacks.

"Curse!"

"Faint Attack!" Haunter laid a Curse upon Meowth, firing some of his purple aura at Meowth, who was enveloped in it. Meowth looked… cool. As she lunged forward her newly acquired aura flowed behind her like fire, similar to the aura gathered around her fist. With a powerful strike Meowth smashed Haunter with her fist, sending him into the wall and knocking him out. Agatha recalled Hanuter, scowling.

"Alright, Golbat!" she called "Fly!"

"Meg- Faint Attack!" I shouted frantically. Mega Punch was almost certain to miss, and with Golbat's attack and Curse's effect that would be very bad for Meowth. Faint Attack, on the other hand, was guaranteed to hit, and would hopefully disrupt Golbat's attack. Meowth realised this and she sprang upward, seeming to melt through the air, and slammed a hugely powerful attack into Golbat, knocking him out of the air.

Both Pokémon landed, Golbat having barely kept himself from crashing. He collapsed, but nevertheless struggled upwards.

And as he rose the Curse aura struck Meowth, doing serious damage.

"Steel Wing!"

"Mega Punch!" Golbat flew forward but in an instant Meowth had intercepted him and slammed a Mega Punch home. Golbat unwilling changed direction, now flying towards Agatha, who recalled him. Meowth stood up proudly.

"Great job Meowth," I congratulated her.

"Meowth, Meowth," she responded happily.

"Alright, don't get overconfident," Agatha said then "Haunter, let's win this one! Hypnosis!"

"Avoid it!" I shouted. _Why does she have two Haunter?_ Haunter's eyes flashed and Meowth sprang sideways from where Haunter was looking. It didn't look very dramatic but it was no less of a close shave for it. Suddenly the Curse attacked, and Haunter moved in close to the distracted Meowth.

"Hypnosis again!"

"Damn! Faint Attack!" Meowth struck with full power and fell to her knees where she stood, now asleep. I recalled her before the Curse could wreak further havoc and waited to see if Haunter could rise.

Agatha's expression was disbelieving, even when Haunter struggled up. I grinned. If her opponents were weaker than her, Meowth's effectiveness increased out of sight, which was how she managed to defeat most of Saffron Gym.

"Come on now Poliwrath!" I called "Surf!"

"Avoid!" shouted Agatha but Haunter could not. I was surprised and pleased at how well this battle was going. Oh my god. Agatha only had two Pokémon left, I realised, and I had four, four after my uninjured Poliwrath. I could hardly believe this.

Neither could my opponent. Her lips were tight, her knuckles white and she seemed furious. When she spoke, however, her voice was calm and controlled.

"Return, Haunter. Arbok, use Stockpile."

"Mind Reader," I commanded firmly. Poliwrath centred his aim. Arbok's coils tightened.

"Spit Up!"

"Dynamicpunch!" Arbok lashed out with an intense slamming attack, picking Poliwrath up out of the air and slamming him into the wall a second before Dynamicpunch connected. Poliwrath picked himself out of the newly created crater in the wall, determined.

"Stockpile," said Agatha in a voice of calm firmness.

"Surf!" I commanded, determined to battle cleverly so that I had no chance of losing. I had gotten this far, and wanted to be ready for my final challenge, Lance.

The wave of water struck Arbok, who merely endured it.

"Spit Up again!" Agatha shouted and like a coiled spring Arbok unleashed his fury.

"Jump!" I shouted, and Poliwrath did just that, leaping high like he was playing some absurd skipping game.

"Hypnosis!" I commanded. If Poliwrath had known Dream Eater the battle would surely have ended right there. As it was, a Surf was easily enough to defeat the helpless Arbok.

Agatha was crestfallen. It was clearly a combination of luck and circumstance, as well as my superior skill but to be losing so comprehensively was earth shattering to her.

"Gengar!" Agatha shouted. "Use Shadow Ball!"

"Surf!" I shouted. Both Pokémon were hit heavily, and Poliwrath fainted. I recalled him grimly.

"Now Ninetales!" I called. "Use a medium strength Flamethrower!" Ninetales released a continuous controlled stream of fire that caught Gengar completely by surprise.

"Shadow Ball!" shouted Agatha angrily.

"Return," I said, recalling Ninetales.

"But- you just forfeited your Pokémon," Agatha exclaimed, confused.

"I know," I said. I felt terrible actually. It must have seemed like I was merely gloating, saying that forfeiting a Pokémon was irrelevant due to how far ahead I was.

That was, of course, true, but I was not gloating about this fact, I was merely trying to preserve my team's strength.

"Fearow!" I called now, and this must really have seemed like I was gloating, challenging a Ghost type with a Normal.

"Dark Pulse!" Agatha shouted angrily.

"Let it hit and Mirror Move!" I shouted in return. Fearow allowed the Dark attack to hit and responded instantly, his skill at copying moves allowing him the certainty of striking. The super effective hit did yet more serious damage.

Agatha was dismayed, crestfallen. I could see how much she cared for Gengar, both in her expression and the fact that she had used an imported TM to teach him a rare move- Dark Pulse- to help his move pool.

"Return," I said grimly, doing that.

"Now Ampharos! Thunder!" I shouted with complete certainty. Agatha commanded a Shadow Ball but Thunder blew Gengar completely away. Gengar's speed was better however and though the attack Thunder was quicker the Ghost Pokémon had more than enough time to launch the attack. Ampharos was struck, and took a surprising amount of damage. Nonetheless, I had won.

Bitterly Agatha recalled her defeated Gengar.

"Your tactics toward the end…" she began. "I commend you."

I nearly fell over.

"What I mean to say is: you played like a true master. You utilised all the aspects of your situation and came up with a deadly strategy. Sharp, powerful attacks were all you needed, and you defeated me comprehensively using a brilliant plan. You… remind me of myself. Now go! But I warn you, with no exaggeration; Lance is an opponent you must guard against.

"And even though we members of the Elite Four say this about ourselves, with Lance it is far truer, even for you. He is an entire level above the other three of the Elite Four. … Also, I need to ask. Was that Flamethrower really medium strength?"

I nodded.

* * *

Sorry for the shorter than usual chapter, but I decided not to put this battle in with the next one, that would have been too long. The next chapter should be a happy medium though.


	14. Chapter 14: The Final Round

Good, I still managed to upload on time, though I was working on editing a oneshot fic. Also, playing Tetris while listening to Avenged Sevenfold. Man the two go together well. Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto  
**

Chapter 14 The Final Round

The last of the Elite Four. I waited tensely as my Pokémon were healed, recovering from the penultimate battle to face their last. I was determined not to let my surprisingly easy victory over Agatha make me complacent. I was well aware that Lance would probably be the toughest opponent I had ever faced.

An indeterminable amount of time later the attendant handed me my Pokémon back.

"Good luck," she said, motioning to the door.

That door. What could I say about that door? Well, for a start, it was brown. Made of solid wood. The handle contained no lock. The doorknob was spherical, and made of a gold coloured metal. As my hand tightened around this doorknob, my nervousness met a crescendo as I pushed open the door.

Briefly it occurred to me that I could hardly have been more nervous had that door had 'abandon hope all ye who enter here' written on it in blood.

Then I walked into the room and Lance was just an ordinary opponent. He looked quite young, dressed in plain black clothing with a long cloak. His arena was larger than the others, I noted, and with a stone floor and what seemed to be plaster walls.

"Welcome, Josh," he said. "Congratulations on making it this far. Your skills are indeed impressive. But here your League challenge ends. Dragons are the ultimate Pokémon, and it is these that I train. Prepare to lose."

"Let's go." I took a deep breath. "Fearow!"

"Aerodactyl!" shouted Lance at the same time. _Oh, perfect._

"Drill Peck!"

"Ancientpower!"

"Avoid!"

Fearow darted in but Aerodactyl summoned a glowing rock and launched it straight at Fearow. Fearow swooped neatly out of the way and rose, gliding high.

"Fly!" I shouted now. Fearow came down powerfully, smashing into the surprised Aerodactyl faster than Aerodactyl could counter. The damage was lessened- due to Aerodactyl being a Rock type- but the impact was nevertheless powerful and Aerodactyl slammed straight into the ground.

"Hyper Beam!" Lance commanded, and my breath caught in my throat.

"Agility!" I shouted. "Now, uh, Fly!" Light gathered in Aerodactyl's jaws. Fearow whipped through the air as the pulsing beam burst forth, barely avoiding the sizzling swivelling ray of energy by climbing while still flying in a circular manoeuvre. Then still at a viciously fast pace Fearow struck. The Hyper Beam cut off as again Aerodactyl fell under the powerful bodily slam.

"Ancientpower!" shouted Lance determinedly and this time Aerodactyl hit. Fearow went sailing through the air, either injured or knocked out.

It was the latter. Fearow landed heavily and did not rise. I recalled him grimly.

"Poliwrath!" I called. "Surf!"

"Avoid it!" commanded Lance, and Aerodactyl rose high while the wave of water Poliwrath sent washed under him. "Now Ancientpower!"

"Hypnosis!" I said smugly.

"Damn- Fly away!"

"Chase after it and hit him with a Hypnosis if he tries to attack!" Poliwrath sprinted forward, sliding to a stop as both he and Aerodactyl reached the wall.

"Alright, Agility and Steel Wing!"

This command told me two things. Firstly, he figured that I would have taught Fearow Mirror Move, and so refrained from using the attack Steel Wing against my bird Pokémon, which could easily be used against him. Also, that he had fallen right into my trap. You see, I had forced him into a position I wanted him by restricting his long range attacks with the threat of Hypnosis. He was now in close combat.

"Jump back and Dynamicpunch!" I shouted triumphantly. Too late Lance realised his mistake as Poliwrath leapt aside and with a single incredible punch knocked the charging Aerodactyl clean out of the air. The Rock/Flying type slammed into the wall and did not rise.

Lance's eyes narrowed and he recalled his defeated Aerodactyl.

"Dragonair!" he called. "Slam!"

"Brace yourself!" I knew Dragonair's flexibility was too great for Poliwrath to hope to avoid the attack, so I merely tried to lessen the damage and put us in a good attacking position.

"Agility!" Lance commanded "and Outrage!"

Crap, I thought.

"Lock On!" I shouted, thinking frantically. So. Once Poliwrath had committed to defending, Lance changed attacks, exploiting Poliwrath's decision to his advantage. And he used Agility to cement the plan, so Poliwrath couldn't escape, them being on equal speed terms prior to Agility's use.

And this quickly thought out plan had been based on my own skill as a trainer- had I not thought to stand my ground against Slam, the manoeuvre would have fallen flat.

Now I knew that Lance, being a trainer of his calibre, would have had Dragonair train to overcome, to the maximum degree possible, Outrage's downside of Confusing the user. The move was a two edged sword, but if one side could be blunted beyond use, the effectiveness sharply rose. Briefly it occurred to me that in metaphorical sword terms this made no actual sense. Nevertheless, Poliwrath was certain to hit with Dynamicpunch and Dynamicpunch's power of Confusing the opponent would be compounded with Outrage.

Dragonair took on an aura, and he lashed out with his body, slamming his massive tail across Poliwrath's crossed arms, driving him back while inflicting much damage.

"Now Dynamicpunch!" I shouted suddenly. I had perfectly calculated the timing and in that particular instant, as Dragonair was drawing back, Poliwrath slammed an incredible attack home.

"Now Hypnosis!"

Dragonair crumpled and Poliwrath used an effective Hypnosis to put him to sleep.

Lance smiled grimly.

"It seems your Poliwrath is too well trained in the art of Hypnosis for my Dragonair to awaken," he said, and returned his defeated Dragon type.

"Come on, Flygon!" he called, releasing a mean looking green Dragon type.

"Surf!" I shouted.

"Fly!" Lance said instantly, and Flygon rose sharply. For the first time I realised why the roof was so high in this arena- for Lance's Dragon types to fly in. The Pokémon plummeted and this time Poliwrath was too exhausted to stop her. Flygon slammed straight into Poliwrath, knocking the Water/Fighting type sideways. Poliwrath fell and was defeated.

"Alright, return," I said and recalled Poliwrath. "Come on Vileplume! Charge a SolarBeam!"

"Fly!" commanded Lance.

"Jump out of the way," I said quickly. Vileplume leapt sideways and Flygon pulled up sharply, touching the ground.

"Alright, Fly sideways at him!" Lance shouted. I could tell he thought I had made a grave error in choice of Pokémon.

Perhaps I had, in judgement. Flygon's speed was well above that of an average Flygon. Come on…

"Petal Dance!" I commanded and a surging tide of leaves fended off Flygon, catching and battering her.

"Now SolarBeam!" I shouted, and the powerful ray of sunlight burst forth, drilling straight through the Petal Dance shield to blast Flygon out of the sky. No, not quite. "And finish her with the Petal Dance!"

Vileplume thrust out a hand and the remaining leaves whipped through the air to catch and slam Flygon's body into the ground.

Lance was stunned. He took a moment to find his voice. "Fl- Flygon, return. Charizard, come on! Flamethrower!"

_Ah, crap_.

"Block with Petal Dance! Solarbeam!" I shouted. The flame attack burst from Charizard's mouth, met and completely overpowered the shield of leaves. Vileplume was caught up instantly and despite hurling himself aside could not escape. My Grass Pokémon collapsed, the flame attack ceased and I reached for my Great Ball with an irritated expression. All of a sudden Vileplume leapt up and blasted an intense Solarbeam at Charizard, catching the draconic fire Pokémon unawares. I grinned.

"Dragon Claw!" commanded Lance instantly and Charizard leapt forward, flapped powerfully and covered the distance between him and Vileplume almost instantly. At the same time as Charizard landed his powerful arm struck out, a powerful Dragon Claw defeating Vileplume for good. I recalled him then.

"Come on, Ampharos!" I shouted "Thunderbolt!"

"Fly away!" shouted Lance and Charizard sprang up but Ampharos hit with a Thunderbolt. A crackling bolt of electricity slammed into Charizard's chest, sending him backwards. "Flamethrower the entire arena floor!"

Charizard blasted an intense stream of flame that burst forward as it hit the floor, washing forward like a wave. The flame stopped short of me, but Ampharos was caught in the centre. My eyes widened. Ampharos held the type advantage but Lance was a clever trainer and this specific move easily obscured Ampharos' vision with flame and did major damage.

"Um, about sixty degrees, face the same direction. Thunder!"

And with that Ampharos blew Charizard out of the sky. The Fire/Flying type hit the ground hard and bounced up before coming to rest in a crumpled heap. Lance scowled.

"Charizard, return," said Lance quietly. A beam of red light caught and returned his defeated Pokémon.

"Well done, Josh, I commend you," said Lance. "I am indeed surprised that you have done so well thus far. I'm not going to make any boasts about how 'your battle will end with this next Pokémon' but be prepared for a tough battle."

I nodded. "Bring it on," I said. Lance smiled.

"Dragonite!" he called.

"Thunder!" I shouted instantly.

"Hyper Beam!" shouted Lance instantly. The Hyper Beam struck the middle of the expanding bolt of lightning, absorbed the force and pushed through, its power wiping Ampharos out and slamming her against the wall. I scowled. Dealing a major blow like that would have been a major first step in securing my victory.

"Hey Lance," I began, voicing aloud a thought that had been bugging me. "You've only got five Pokémon, right?"

"Correct," he acknowledged.

"Right. Well, I've never needed to use six before but does that mean I'm limited to five or anything?" I asked.

"Ah, deciding what Pokémon to use?" Lance said knowledgeably.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"No, since you've had to exhaust your Pokémon on three trainers previously, you may fight my five with your six."

"Excellent," I said "Meowth!"

Despite their claims to never underestimate a Pokémon, without fail I think all the trainers but Morgan and a few Gym Leaders had done so with Meowth. Lance was different. His line of thought seemed to go: 'if Josh is using a first form Pokémon at this stage of the Pokémon League she must be pretty amazing, and no doubt more so that a Persian of that high level. So she must have some special ability or power.' Power was one thing Meowth did not lack, and her agility and speed lent such an edge that she was a deadly combatant.

"Mega Punch, full power!" I shouted. Dragonite, drained from the Hyper Beam was in no position to escape- Meowth bounded to the dragon Pokémon and leapt up, throwing a powerful right hook into his jaw. Dragonite staggered, off balance.

"Now Mega Punch again!" I shouted and Meowth, while falling, buried her fist in Dragonite's belly.

"Dragon Claw!" Lance shouted.

"Bounce off," I commanded. Meowth slammed her footpaws against Dragonite's body, pushing off and leaping away. "Now Faint Attack!"

Meowth barely touched ground before she launched herself up, again aiming for Dragonite's head. With a fist wreathed in Dark energy she slammed a powerful punch into the poor beautiful dragon's head, the energy discharging and bursting outward from the point of contact.

"Outrage!" commanded Lance. Dragonite stomped downward, cracking open the stone floor. He crouched down and swung a hand out, striking Meowth heavily and sending her staggering backward. I grimly noted that that hit alone had probably evened out the damage done so far. Strong as my Meowth was, Dragonite's own power was incredible, and Lance was a brilliant trainer.

"Now Hyper Beam!" Lance commanded. The orange beam struck Meowth and blasted her straight into the wall, and had more power been required I had no doubt she would have gone straight through. Much like when I had battled Lt. Surge.

Instantly I was stricken by the full extent of how far I had come, and what needed to be done to fulfil the dream I had had, and had still.

"Ninetales!" I shouted. "Use a full power Flamethrower! And walk towards Dragonite!" A massive outpouring of fire erupted, far more so than with Lance's Charizard. Ninetales was now so powerful that he was still comfortably able to maintain this ferocious amount of flame despite it being far more than the maximum output of the average Fire type. The flame attack grew more concentrated as Ninetales neared his opponent, Dragonite stumbling back, trying to escape the maelstrom in which he found himself trapped.

"Fly! To the right!" Lance shouted frantically. Dragonite burst out of the flame, still training jets of fire. He flew in a wide arc and then thundered towards Ninetales like an avenging hammer.

"Leap aside and slam him with Iron Tail!" as soon as Dragonite was close enough Ninetales leapt aside, although Dragonite still would have hit. Would have. Ninetales spun around and smacked Dragonite aside with a steely slam from all nine of his tails.

"Now Blast Burn!" I shouted jubilantly and Ninetales struck with a massive flame attack that blew Dragonite straight through the wall in an intense explosion.

"Dragonite has left the building," I muttered, while Lance stared, mouth slightly open.

"Incredible!" he exclaimed, "what a stunning victory! Failing myself being defeated again, you are the Pokémon League champion, and I truly believe it is a title you deserve. Well done!"

I couldn't help but grin. Well, it _had_ been an incredible victory.

"Thank you, so much," I said, unable to stop smiling. Lance nodded.

"You're welcome," he said. "Well done." And with that my opponent also left the building, to recall his defeated Dragonite.

-----

"So Josh, Lance tells me you also managed to win," Steph said to me with an air of smugness.

Damn it, I _knew_ this would happen.

* * *

Final ROUND of the Elite Four, but the next chapter is the final BATTLE. Stay tuned for Josh vs. Steph, next chapter.


	15. Chapter 15: For the Title!

Woah, this turned out longer than usual. Since other authors on this site do this, I'm going to assume I'm the only one who doesn't care, and tell you what I listened to when I wrote this. 'Twas 'Death Magnetic' by Metallica. There, didn't you all want to know that so much? Oh, and I was eating M&Ms too. By writing I mean rewriting.

This is is, ladies and gentlemen. The final battle of the Kanto Pokémon League, featuring the epic Ninetales vs. Dragonite bout. Enjoy.

* * *

**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 29 For the Title!

It was the day before the final battle in the Pokémon League. Briefly I reflected upon the trainers I had battled so far. Lindsay, Jim, Sarah, Brittany, Norman and Krystal. Were there any among there I truly believed Steph could not have beaten? No, there were not.

Brittany and Krystal. The two toughest opponents I had faced, apart from Lance. Could I see Steph struggling as much as I had? I was as uncertain as I had ever been about the upcoming battle.

Much of the three day break before the final round was spent in recuperation, recovering from the onslaught of Pokémon we had just faced. I only met with Steph once more in the break, and we exchanged polite, brief words. My sister had become my enemy. Tanya forced us to swear we would stay friends no matter what happened.

"Ugh, friends with my sister? That's just weird."

And before I knew it, it was the night before the battle. Morgan had so far given me much advice, though most of it was along the lines of which Pokémon I should put in my party (ranging from Vileplume to the Beedrill I had trained early on in my journey to Steph's Dragonite, and so on) to what moves I could teach my Pokémon (which ranged from teaching Ice Beam to Poliwrath to teaching Hyper Beam to Meowth to teaching Ice Beam to Ninetales to teaching 'Newspaper' to Ampharos). And no matter how many times I gently reminded him that I did in fact teach Meowth Hyper Beam on his advice, and we had spent some of the last few days doing intensive training, he continued to suggest this to annoy me.

It was a surprisingly ordinary day, considering what tomorrow held.

I sat on my bed, Morgan on his. We both had the lower bunks, though as Gerald and that other guy had left after losing, we now had the room to ourselves.

"You know," I said "the thing that I can't accept is that our next journeys will be with completely different Pokémon."

"Yeah, that will be weird. It's like for the past five months we've been doing something that takes our whole lives but it doesn't, it's just the first phase." He sighed, melancholic.

"And not just the first phase, but it's like starting the whole thing over."

Morgan nodded, staring at the floor. We sat in silence for ten seconds.

"Though you could always catch more or less the same Pokémon," Morgan pointed out, smiling.

-----

And then it was the next morning, and I was standing outside Indigo Stadium. It was a dry, warm morning, the sort that would become hot, the unpleasant sticky kind of hot.

I walked into my side entrance, through the corridor and into the antechamber. I waited for a minute, then was told to proceed by the man who operated the healing machine. Out of my peripheral vision I saw him run away, probably to get to his seat. Into the sunshine, forward into the podium. Up.

And I looked across the battlefield; freshly prepared, recovered from the beating it had been given in the most recent few matches of the Pokémon League. This, it occurred suddenly to me, would be the last. My sister was also in her podium and our eyes met. She smiled, but there was no mercy in her eyes.

...And after the longest introduction I'd ever been given, "Joshua against Stephanie. Let the battle begin."

The cheers were thunderous as the crowd roared, cheered, and yelled, and all for us. Steph and I looked, nodded, and released our Pokémon.

"Fearow!" I shouted.

"Pidgeot!" my sister called at the same time, and both our commands were "Fly!"

Both Flying types whipped upward, taking off in a shower of dust, rising at the same speed.

"Slam into him!" shouted Steph, and instantly I responded, having expected exactly this: "Agility!" Fearow sped up, Pidgeot barrelling sideways at a target now above him. I waited for Steph's command.

"Alright, FeatherDance!" she shouted.

"Left!" I commanded instantly. Pidgeot blew a bunch of feathers straight at my Pokémon, but Fearow, familiar with me as a trainer, had readied himself for a fight or flight command and pitched sideways.

"Now glide downwards and shoot upwards with a Fly!" Fearow began his descent but snapped his wings out and whipped through the air. He struck Pidgeot heavily, sending the Flying type hurtling sideways, falling towards the ground.

"Agility! Fly and hit him again!" I shouted.

"Agility! Barrel roll right! Climb!" Steph countered instantly. As Fearow bore down on Pidgeot Steph's Pokémon changed direction, leaving mine to overshoot his target. Pidgeot then flew upward, gaining height rapidly.

"Touch down," I said loudly. Fearow gently alighted on the ground. Pidgeot glanced down to see his prey far below him.

"Glide downward!" Steph shouted.

Pidgeot began his descent. Steph looked over to me and I smiled disarmingly. She became wary.

"_...and it seems Josh may be trying to psych out his opponent here..."_

_Damn straight._ "Now, Fly! Agility!" Fearow flew upward and boosted his speed greatly. Pidgeot had to either attack or let Fearow pass.

"Fly! Attack!" shouted Steph, and the two Pokémon headed rapidly towards each other. There was very little time before the two collided.

"Agility!" Steph commanded.

"Avoid!" I shouted instantly.

"Kill your speed!" Steph shouted, and Pidgeot slowed. "Steel Wing!" she shouted and Pidgeot headed straight for where Fearow's new flight path would take him.

"Slow your speed and use Mirror Move!" Fearow would have needed far more speed to use Fly, and I didn't feel like using Hyper Beam yet, so Steel Wing seemed the best choice. Pidgeot was right above Fearow when my Pokémon attacked, slamming a powerful physical blow into the other bird Pokémon's body. Pidgeot was slammed downwards.

"Now pursue him!" I shouted, and Fearow curved to follow Pidgeot's downward path, following Pidgeot too closely for the Pokémon to either avoid Fearow or attack.

"Touch down in the centre of the field," Steph said, taking the safest way out.

"Hyper Beam!" I shouted the second Pidgeot landed. A powerful beam of energy ground Pidgeot into the arena floor. Steph was shocked as she recalled her Pokémon. Fearow hadn't been hit at all. He had escaped unscathed but for the effort expended.

"Lapras! Ice Beam!" shouted Steph. Lapras blasted a powerful beam of ice from her jaws, catching Fearow in an intense freezing attack. Fearow was slammed against the arena wall.

"Fly up!" I shouted, and Fearow just managed to fly away and avoid being hit by another deadly Ice Beam. "Circle her... Now Hyper Beam!" Fearow attacked as soon as Lapras, naturally a slow Pokémon, was having trouble keeping him in her sights. The attack hit Lapras hard, battering the Water/Ice type.

"Ice Beam!" Steph shouted, and another Ice Beam struck, knocking Fearow out. I recalled him grimly. I'd been afraid of that result.

"Ampharos!" I called, releasing her. "Thunderbolt!"

"Ice Beam!" commanded Steph instantly. Ampharos blasted a crackling electric blast and Lapras sent an icy attack Ampharos' way. Both attacks hit and both combatants took damage.

"Sheer Cold," commanded Steph and to my horror the attack worked. Ampharos shuddered briefly and collapsed, defeated. _Perfect, now Steph's ahead_. I recalled Ampharos. There was only one Pokémon I had that I was sure could withstand Sheer Cold. Man, that Lapras was troublesome.

"Come on, Ninetales!" I called, sending out in a blast of light my fire Pokémon.

"Flamethrower him, medium strength!" I commanded.

"Hydro Pump!" shouted Steph frantically. I merely chuckled to myself. Ninetales from his maw launched an intense stream of fire that, concentrated, went straight at Lapras. Lapras blasted from her own mouth a stream of water that met the fire. Steam erupted, rolling out in massive amounts. After a short time the smoke started to thin out- no more was created for Ninetales' attack had won out and Lapras was bathed in flame. Ninetales widened the attack, leaving Lapras no escape.

I grinned. In a short amount of time Lapras collapsed. Steph gazed at me in horror. Well, the stupid thing kept getting knockouts on _my _Pokémon, I thought I deserved a turn. She returned her defeated Lapras and then raised her gaze to meet mine. And I knew what was coming.

"Ninetales, return," I said lightly and called out Poliwrath.

Steph froze. She was aware I knew she had been about to call out Dragonite, and probably guessed I had switched Ninetales for Dragonite so that I could use Poliwrath's Ice Beam. Slowly she replaced her Poké Ball and took a Great Ball from her belt.

"Hypno," she said, throwing out her Great Ball. "Psychic!"

"Avoid it," I shouted. Poliwrath hurled himself out of the way, but a blast of psychic energy clipped him and span him through the air until he hit the ground, managing to skid to a halt and land in a crouch.

"Surf!" I commanded, "and run up to her." Poliwrath sent a solid wall of water at Hypno.

"Barrier!" commanded Steph, and Hypno created a physical obstruction in the path of Surf. The water crashed off of it and swirled around as Poliwrath ran towards the Barrier.

"Jump over and Surf!" I shouted. Poliwrath leapt high, landing on the other side of the Barrier. Hypno was backed up against a wall, and the Surf hit hard and fast; he was slammed straight through her own shield. She got up woozily.

"Hypnosis!" I commanded.

"Levitate yourself into Poliwrath with a Headbutt!" Steph responded instantly. Hypno suddenly flew straight into Poliwrath, her head sinking into Poliwrath's belly and sending the water Pokémon hurtling backwards. Poliwrath hit the wall hard.

"Come on, you can get up," I said encouragingly, but with a hint of desperation.

"Psychic!" commanded Steph smugly, and Hypno had Poliwrath in his clutches. A ripple seemed to pass along the air, psychic waves ripped along it and struck Poliwrath and the Water/Fighting type was slammed hard into the ground. He did not get up. I held up Poliwrath's great Ball and returned him.

"Come on, Meowth!" I called, releasing my fierce feline fighter. "Use a Faint Attack!"

Dark energy gathered around Meowth's fist, flowing like black fire and she moved with blurring speed. She appeared right next to Hypno and with an incredible punch knocked the Psychic type straight off her feet. Hypno crashed on the ground a few feet away. Steph scowled, and recalled her Pokémon.

"Come on, Venasaur!" she called, then went on. "Crush her! Charge a Solarbeam!"

"Mega Punch!" I commanded and Meowth slammed a powerful punch into the side of Venasaur's face.

"Double Edge!" commanded Steph and Venasaur charged.

"Avoid," I said quickly and Meowth leapt to the side, landing in a catlike crouch. "Mega Punch!"

Venasaur, who could not slow down as easily, had only just stopped and turned to face his opponent when another Mega Punch struck, this time an uppercut that snapped his head back.

"Again!" I shouted and Meowth slugged the grass Pokémon across the jaw, sending him reeling, partly in shock that such a small Pokémon could be hurting him this badly.

"Razor Leaf and Solarbeam!" shouted Steph.

"Faint Attack and leap away!" I shouted. Venasaur roared as a swarm of leaves whipped towards Meowth. My Pokémon did not flinch, and bounced around the Razor Leaf swarm before leaping towards Venasaur and dealing the poor Pokémon another heavy blow. Venasaur released from his maw a massive beam of sunlight however Meowth had leapt away and the Solarbeam missed and gouged a massive hole in the arena.

"Mega Punch!" I began, and instantly Meowth slammed a fist into Venasaur's head, knocking the grass Pokémon sideways "and Hyper Beam!"

"Solarbeam!" shouted Steph instantly, and the weak blast met and equalled Meowth's, the two cancelled each other out. "Double Edge!"

This time Meowth had barely landed and Venasaur collided heavily with her, sending her flying. Meowth picked herself up, panting slightly. Venasaur looked weak.

"Walk forward towards her," Steph said.

"Walk away from him," I said. A few seconds passed, with Venasaur walking forward and Meowth backing up to the wall. "Now sprint forward and Faint Attack!" I shouted. Meowth shot forward and knocked the dizzy and weakened Venasaur off his feet with a final blow. Steph scowled.

She raised two Poké Balls in one hand- which was harder than it sounded, well, if you thought it was easier than it was, then it was harder than it sounded. If you thought it was harder than it was, then it was easier than it sounded. Ahem. Anyway, she recalled Venasaur and, grinning, released her Dragonite.

Meowth stared at the formidable, strong and- compared to her, freaking huge- dragon Pokémon. Poor Meowth. This was the second time in as many days she'd fought a Dragonite.

"Alright- Faint Attack!" I commanded. Meowth jumped high, rocketing up to hit Dragonite in the head, slamming her knees into him. This was barely a slap compared to the insane power Meowth displayed when she swung a punch into Dragonite's head, knocking him sideways slightly. Dragonite roared.

"Dragon Claw!" Steph commanded and with a single swipe of his energy-charged claw Dragonite managed to knock Meowth out. Well, she'd been through a lot previously.

"Well done, Meowth," I said to her. Then I raised my gaze to meet Steph's. Steph nodded.

"Bring it on," she said, grinning.

"Alright, let's beat this dragon- Ninetales!" I called, hurling out the Poké Ball that contained my starter Pokémon. We looked at each other and were both unable to hold in a grin. This was it, the ultimate thrill of Pokémon battling, the pitting of warrior against warrior. Both our strongest Pokémon were out, the gloves were off. This would be awesome.

"Hyper Beam!" commanded Steph.

"Blast Burn!" I shouted in answer.

From Dragonite's jaws burst a fiery orange beam of deadly power. From Ninetales was an incredible fireball that rapidly expanded as more flame was poured into it. The two attacks met.

Hyper Beam was swallowed and Blast Burn exploded like a shaped charge, pouring its fiery energy over Dragonite, who flew upward, trailing smoke from his wings.

"Light up the sky with a Flamethrower!" I shouted dramatically, reminding myself of Zack for some reason. Flame poured into the sky, still at a comfortable level for Ninetales, a plume of expanding flame that moved towards Dragonite.

"Fly! Smash him into the ground!" Steph shouted. Now it began.

"Leap away..." I said, sustaining the 'ay', letting Ninetales know the command was not yet complete. Dragonite fell like a boulder, imposing in the extreme.

"Now!" I shouted and Ninetales leapt aside, leaving Dragonite to flip the right way up. "Jump and Iron Tail!" Ninetales leapt the millisecond before Dragonite touched down and whirled, whipping all nine tails into the dragon Pokémon's face and slamming the other Pokémon against the wall.

"Flamethrower!" I commanded. Ninetales sent forth a huge amount of flame, catching Dragonite in the maelstrom. The dragon Pokémon was a flaming giant, and he bounded backwards out of the flame so he could see.

"Alright Dragon Claw!" shouted Steph. Dragonite burst forward, straight through the flames.

"Jump out of the way!" I yelled.

"No dice!" shouted Steph inexplicably. Dragonite emerged looking injured, but sighted Ninetales...

"Switch paws!" shouted Steph and as Ninetales leapt sideways Dragonite attacked with the paw on the side Ninetales was jumping towards. My fox Pokémon was knocked into the wall, and fell.

"Outrage!" commanded Steph.

"Avoid!" I shouted and Ninetales stood up just in time, leaping away as Dragonite's paw sunk into the ground where he had been and then continuing at an impressive speed until he had most of the arena between them.

"Flamethrower, medium strength!" I commanded, and I saw Steph's eyes widened as a massive flame attack crossed the entire distance between the two combatants.

"Fly up!" yelled Steph. Dragonite launched himself into the sky, and Ninetales adjusted his aim.

"Alright, high strength!" I commanded gleefully and Dragonite was suddenly caught in a truly impressive fire attack. Dragonite flew further back, out of range.

"Fly!" Steph commanded. Dragonite flew forward, gaining speed quickly.

"Flame him as he comes down!" I shouted. I was, of course, aware that Fire was weak against Dragon. But Ninetales had the capacity to produce heaps of flame and so the halved damage was still considerable, not to mention annoying and restricting.

"More vertical!" commanded Steph, and Dragonite adjusted his aim.

Oh crap. Now Dragonite could aim wherever Ninetales moved and still hit my Pokémon. I took a deep breath.

"Jump at it!" I shouted, and Ninetales leapt up, closing the distance between the two. "And Blast Burn!"

Now Dragonite was the one who could not escape. And the Blast Burn attack exploded. Waves of smoke rolled outwards. Then Dragonite fell out of the smoky cloud, colliding with Ninetales and knocking my fox Pokémon out of the sky. Both Pokémon were falling towards where the wall met the floor, very little space between the two. If they continued falling Ninetales would hit the ground and Dragonite would crush him.

"Jump off the wall!" I shouted. Ninetales extended his hind legs and just managed to find enough purchase to bounce off. He landed and fell to the ground just as Dragonite's body ploughed into where he would have landed.

"Outrage!" commanded Steph, and I was astounded to see Dragonite get up, dizzy but immediately. He struck a heavy blow on Ninetales' body, and I winced.

"Iron Tail!" I shouted and Ninetales responded with a physical blow that knocked Dragonite off balance and into a crouch.

"Outrage again!" shouted Steph.

"You absolutely have to get out of there!" I shouted, garbling my words slightly. Ninetales heard the desperation and obeyed, bodily hurling himself out beyond Dragonite's attack. "Now Blast Burn!"

Dragonite was wide open. This final Blast Burn, imbued with the last Ninetales' power struck true. A colossal explosion blasted Dragonite into the arena wall, and he fell, and it was over.

"Yes!" I cried, elated from that victory alone. Steph gazed, amazed. Except for maybe against an Ice type, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the first battle he'd ever lost. And now Steph only had one Pokémon left, while I had two. And one was Vileplume, one of my top Pokémon.

Steph recalled her defeated Dragon type. Our eyes met once again. Ninetales alone stood in the arena, in front of my podium, panting. Steph raised the Great Ball that contained her very last Pokémon. The cheers built to a frantic crescendo.

She threw the Great Ball out in front of her and from the ball emerged an Arbok, a fearsome, dangerous-looking Poison Pokémon with an evil look.

"Flamethrower; give everything you have!" I shouted. Ninetales took a deep breath.

"Avoid and Iron Tail," said Steph. Ninetales released a low energy Flamethrower and Arbok slithered around the side, slamming her tail into Ninetales' body and sending him sprawling. Ninetales growled viciously and then ran forward and jumped, swinging his nine tales at Arbok's head. Arbok's ducked and came up at the side and then in a crescent movement his tail came around, smacking Ninetales across the face and knocking my poor Pokémon out. I growled. Arbok was strong, fast but most importantly new and at full power. Had Ninetales been at full strength he could have easily hit with a Flamethrower.

I recalled my defeated starter and took my final Poké Ball. At least Vileplume was also a Poison type, which negated Arbok having a major advantage.

"Vileplume!" I called, "this little worm is his last Pokémon, but he's full power. You can do it, I know you can!"

"Come on Arbok, you can beat the crap out of this little flower-headed freak." We both mouthed 'sorry' at each other. "Earthquake!"

"Charge a Solarbeam and jump towards him!" Arbok touched the point of his tail to the ground, sending energy waves through it that caused the arena floor to shake. Vileplume jumped high but hit the ground eventually and was hurled to the ground and hurt. He raised himself up, he and Arbok almost face-to-face.

"Iron Tail!" commanded Steph at the same time as I said "Petal Dance!" Arbok's tail came whipping through the air but met and was repulsed by a shield of leaves.

"Sludge Bomb!" Steph shouted now, which was a mistake. This was the easiest type of attack to block. The leaves stood up to the blow easily, the poison blob splattering as it met it.

"Immobilise and Solarbeam!" I shouted.

"Iron Tail!" commanded Steph. "Full strength!" I gazed in disbelief as Arbok swept the attack aside and knocked Vileplume over in the same powerful movement. My breath caught in my throat. _No... damn it_.

Vileplume got up quickly and blasted the Solarbeam directly at Arbok from moderately close range. In my mind's eye the moment Arbok's head moved out of the way was in slow motion, and then everything caught up with me in a rush as the Solarbeam drilled straight into the arena wall.

"Earthquake!" commanded Steph triumphantly and Vileplume was shaken to the ground, broken, beat and scarred. I gazed, frozen with horror as Vileplume lay, still. Then, amazingly, he pushed himself up. Instantly: "Iron Tail!"

Arbok was there in a second and the force of the attack smacked Vileplume, sending him flying through the air. He landed on the ground hard, bounced up and fell again, silent. And then- impossibly- he began to rise again, painfully slowly.

Completely unexpectedly, he fired off a weak Solarbeam which instinctively Arbok dodged. The two Pokémon, Arbok upright and proud, Vileplume battered and bruised and kneeling on one knee and face turned painfully up, matched gazes.

And then Vileplume fell, his soft body making a thump as he hit the ground. He did not rise. Mechanically as around me the arena exploded into cheers I recalled my final Pokémon.

I had lost.

* * *

I originally had a different ending to this battle, but I just wasn't happy with it. And if you thought the Kanto phase were packed with action not related to the usual trainer journey, then I don't know what you just finished reading, but it can't have been this. Anyway, the Johto journeys have more of that stuff. You know, like coming across Articuno and fighting Giovanni. Anyway, there'll be a delay before I start uploading again. Hate to write chapter ten, think some foreshadowing would be in order, and then realise I'd uploaded chapters one through nine inclusive and couldn't do it. So, see you in a bit.


	16. Chapter 16: Afterword: Thoughts

So, two years exactly since I last updated this. Believe it or not, it was entirely coincidental. Really, it weirded the hell out of me…

So, some housekeeping. This is the long overdue epilogue to Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto, as well as a hook for the next part. Thematically more than anything else, as it follows on from the implied subdued nature of the last chapter and talks about themes that… well, when I planned out P:JJ it had no themes, it was a crappy adventure story.

Part 2 (or, if you like, Part 4) will pick up a years later, after the Johto and Hoenn phases of the story, fior the reasons stated above; because I (like to think) I'm no longer a terrible writer and am interested in telling a worthwhile story. Something like that.

* * *

**Pokémon: Josh's Journey- Kanto**

Chapter 29 For the Title!

I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Well, I had lost. Steph had in the end triumphed, and she had deserved it. I'd seen her Arbok battle only once, against Zack's Hypno and that hadn't been a fair fight for him really. But he'd owned Vileplume completely. I had to admit Arbok was better than probably all my Pokémon but Ninetales. Though Meowth versus Arbok would have been interesting.

I sighed. I couldn't believe I'd really come _that_ close, only to lose on my sixth Pokémon. It was just so... I just couldn't quite accept it.

I sat up, wanting to distract myself from moody thoughts. An idea flashed in my mind. I'd always wondered... Gym Leaders earned their money from two sources. Firstly, from the Pokémon League for battling trainers on the journeys, and secondly from anyone who who paid a small fee for battling them. This would earn them a gold class badge, which was a level higher than the league badges the average person would end up with twenty-four of and was a genuine representation of prestige.

Vermillion Gym was only a couple of blocks away.

I wondered how I'd do in a serious battle against a Kanto Gym Leader.

_Damn_, I thought furiously as I recalled my defeated Vileplume. This was insane. My Pokémon had beaten Lance of the Elite Four for crying out loud- and Lt. Surge was taking them down with barely any trouble. I'd lost all except Meowth and Ninetales, and Surge was still on his third. That stupid Electivire had beaten Fearow and Poliwrath while only taking two hits. Surge had recalled it for rest and sent out Electrode, who had owned Ampharos within about three seconds. It had been immensely satisfying to beat Electrode with Vileplume, but Magnezone had finished off my tired pokémon instantly.

"Come on, Ninetales!" I called, sending out my starter pokémon. "Flamethrower!"

"Zap Cannon!" commanded Surge. Ninetales poured out a massive amount of flame, catching Magnezone in the attack. Magnezone levitated out of the flame and nailed my beautiful fox pokémon with a crippling electric attack. The Flamethrower cut off abruptly as Ninetales squealed in pain.

"Take it out!" I shouted and Ninetales, determined, increased the power of the attack in order to toast Magnezone, who dropped out of the air.

Lt. Surge recalled his Pokémon. "Alright, come on back out Electivire!" he shouted, sending out his powerful fighting pokémon. "Thunderpunch!"

"Iron Tail, hit him out of the way!" I shouted. Electivire wasn't that fast for an electric type but he was strong and he ran over to my Pokémon quickly, punching Ninetales very hard under the ribs. Ninetales gasped and doubled up, but, with a roar that suggested he was pushing through the pain, he came around and smashed his tails over Electivire. It barely seemed to affect the larger Pokémon, who foresaw Surge's command and used another Thunderpunch on my poor pokémon, knocking him off his feet. Ninetales, pained and paralysed, struggled to rise.

"Blast Burn!" I shouted angrily and Ninetales blasted a massive orb of flame at Electivire. It struck the electric Pokémon and exploded, blasting it off its feet and into the wall. Electivire stood up unsteadily.

"Flamethrower!" I shouted and the foe was bathed in flame again.

"Thunderpunch!" Surge shouted, probably because it seemed to be working.

"Blast Burn!" I shouted and the massive flame attack exploded Electivire out of the air. Ninetales, panting, walked over to in front of me. Surge recalled his defeated pokémon.

"Raichu! Thunderbolt!" commanded Surge. Before Ninetales could react, the large orange pokémon hit him straight on with a powerful electric strike. Ninetales keeled over in defeat.

"Meowth!" I shouted, sending out my last Pokémon. Meowth met the eyes of her opponent. I stayed silent.

"Thunderbolt!" commanded Surge.

"Faint Attack, Low Kick, Mega Punch, Low Kick," I said. Meowth avoided the incoming electric attack, slammed a fist of dark energy into Raichu before sweeping its leg out, hitting him with full power and then kicking his body away. Surge's jaw dropped. Raichu struggled to get up and Meowth was there in a moment, finishing him off with a Mega Punch first to the stomach and then a knockout one across the jaw.

_Power's no good if you can't hit your opponent_, I thought with satisfaction.

"Jolteon!" called Surge, sending out his fifth pokémon. "Double Kick!"

"Mega Punch!" I shouted. The battle was short. Meowth was hit twice, hit back once and was Thunderbolted out of the match. It was brutally short. Bitterly I recalled my Pokémon.

"You're a good trainer, Josh," said Lt. Surge, "But you haven't put your abilities to their fullest use yet. The difference between Ninetales and most of your other Pokémon should be clear to you. If you could have all your Pokémon at that level, then you would be able to give me a good battle. I hope this battle has been educational to you."

I nodded tersely, thanked him and left the Gym, hands clenched at my sides. As I walked, the hard look in my eyes softened and gave way to thoughtfulness. The path to becoming truly great had been illuminated, and I saw how far I had yet to go. I smiled. That only filled me with burning desire. As I walked back into the house, I checked the calendar. The third of June. Four weeks exactly until the next phase of our journeys began. I grinned.

* * *

So there's that. The next part of Pokémon: Josh's Journey will be along within a week or so. Enjoy, if you must. I trust you'll appreciate the improved amount of plot (any at all), thematic concerns (any at all) and writing skill (again, any at all :p).


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